Second Chances
by Lupanari
Summary: AU, Time Travel. Sparring after the KakuzuHidan battle, Kakashi and Naruto are suddenly sent back in time. Not only that, but their bodies have somehow merged into one in the process. No Pairings. CURRENTLY UNDERGOING A MAJOR REWRITE.
1. What Happened to Us!

Note: edited slightly 8/28/07

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not me. If I was, I would've pointed out the obvious Yondy-is-Naruto's-father fact looong ago. EDIT: Well, what do you know, he finally did. Yay!

A/N: This is my first story on so please be nice. And give it a chance. I'll try to have chapters updated once every week, though I can't make any promises.

Summary: AU, Time Travel fic. While sparring after the Kakuzu/Hidan battle, Kakashi and Naruto are suddenly thrown back in time to a year before the Kyuubi attacked. Not only that, but they're have somehow merged into one in the process.

Key(quote marks ARE important)

_thoughts_

_'Naruto speaking'_

'Kakashi speaking'

**'Kyuubi speaking'**

**Second Chances**

Chapter 1: What Happened to Us!

The first thing he noticed when he started to return to consciousness was the splitting headache. The second thing was the smell of disinfectant that hospitals alone seemed to possess. Slowly opening his eyes, his suspicions were confirmed when he saw the white ceiling. _And I just got out of the hospital, too._ He sighed.

"How on earth did I get here anyway?" he muttered to himself. "Last thing I remember, I was sparring with..." But when he tried to say the name, it came out as a garbled mess of sounds. He blinked. _Huh? _He tried again, with the same results. With a sinking suspicion in the pit of his stomach, he tried a different approach.

'Naruto?'

'_Kakashi-sensei?'_

There was complete silence for a full minute. Suddenly, he shot up in bed, shouting, "What the hell are you doing in my head!" Only to double over in pain as a sudden dizzy spell hit him, which did not help his headache at all. Once the pain had subsided to a manageable level, he let go of his head and sat up straight.

Looking at his (their?) Hands, Naruto/Kakashi came to a sudden realisation. Shooting out of bed, they went over to the mirror in the corner, barely holding back a yell of shock at their reflection.

Looking back at them was a face that was both familiar, yet unfamiliar. Spiky, golden-blond hair with silver tips framed a slightly tan face (paler than Naruto's, but darker than Kakashi's) that appeared to be about twenty years old. The three whisker marks that had been on Naruto's face practically since birth were also on each cheek. There was even a faint scar over the left eye.

It was their eyes that were most shocking though. For the most part, both eyes were Naruto's blue; but around the pupils, which were slits like a fox's, the color changed to Kakashi's eye colors. The right had a circle of dark grey, while the left was red, even though it obviously wasn't a sharingan anymore.

Naruto/Kakashi stared at their reflection in shock for a few minutes, unable to say anything. Naruto, surprisingly, was the first to break out of his shock.

'_What the-? Kakashi-sensei, what happened to us!'_

'Well, by the looks of things, I'd say we've merged into a single body.'

'_Yeah, I noticed, but how?'_

'How should I know?'

'_You're supposed to be the genius!'_

'While that's true, that doesn't mean-'

'**SILENCE!'**

Naruto/Kakashi jumped at the sudden voice roaring in their mind. Slightly nervous now, Kakashi said the first thing that came to mind. 'Naruto, is that who I think it is?'

'_Yeah, that's the stupid fox.'_

'...Right.'

'**I said silence!'**

Being met with the desired silence, Kyuubi said what he wanted to say.

'**You two have more to worry about than simply sharing the same body. Take a good look out the window and you'll see what I mean. That or a calendar.'**

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto/Kakashi said aloud.

'**Just do it. When you've done that and realized what it means, come see me, for we have much to talk about.' **They could practically hear the grin on the Kyuubi's face when he said that, just before 'leaving'.

Naruto/Kakashi sighed, before turning towards the window. "Might as well do what he said. No harm in looking out the window." he muttered.

Pulling back the curtains, they could see that the sun had risen about half an hour ago at most. Naruto groaned.

'_This is an unholy hour to be wide awake.'_

'Stop complaining. I know you've gotten up earlier than this before in order to train.'

'_Doesn't mean I like it. I'm not like Gai-sensei or Lee.'_

'For which I am grateful, cause I probably would've killed myself by now if you were. One Gai is enough. Two is even worse. Three would just be torture.'

Looking over the buildings of Konoha, they couldn't immediately see anything amiss. There was the academy, the Hokage's office, the Hokage Monument...

_Wait a minute..._

Naruto/Kakashi turned his head back towards the mountain so fast, his neck hurt; but he didn't care, simply staring in shock at the monument. He rubbed his eyes hard, but nothing changed. Rubbing them again, he sent his along the line of Hokage faces. There was the Shodaime, followed by the Nidaime, Then the Sandaime...But when they looked where the Yondaime and the Godaime should've been, there was nothing but blank stone.

Kakashi suddenly understood what Kyuubi meant when he said they had bigger problems to deal with. And he didn't like them. But Naruto, apparently, didn't understand.

'_Kakashi-sensei, how...how can this be possible? Why are there only three heads, when there should be five? The only way that could've happened is if...'_

Kakashi sighed. 'But that's precisely what happened. We've gone back in time. I don't know how. I don't know why. But there's no other explanation. It can explain why we are the way we are now, as well. There obviously can't be two Hatake Kakashis or Uzumaki Narutos wandering around, after all. The main question is though, how far back have we gone?'

Looking around the hospital room, he spotted what he was looking for by the door. Darting over quickly, Naruto/Kakashi snatched the calendar off the wall, nearly ripping it in half in the process, and looked at the date marked on it. Only to, once again, stare in complete shock.

Backing up slowly, he sat back down on the bed, shock slowly turning into sadness (from Kakashi), mixed with confusion (from Naruto). The year on the calendar showed that they were about 17 years in the past, a little over a year before the Kyuubi attacked. Naruto had to admit, he was a little worried and confused about Kakashi's reaction to the date. Now that he'd gotten over initial shock that they were in the past, Naruto was starting to realize that they could change everything, especially since the nine-tails hadn't attacked yet. And if he figured that out, Kakashi definitely did, so Naruto couldn't understand why the jounin was acting like his best friend had died.

'_Kakashi-sensei? What's the matter?'_

Kakashi was silent for a moment. He sighed, speaking aloud. "Two weeks. Just two weeks. Why couldn't we have woken up just two weeks earlier? Why?"

'_Sensei...? What happened, exactly?'_

Kakashi didn't respond for a few minutes. Just as Naruto was starting to think that he wouldn't even answer, he replied mentally this time.

'Nearly two weeks ago, today, I had my first mission as a jounin; team leader, in fact. My team was the same team I had when I was a student under the Yondaime; Uchiha Obito and Takahashi Rin.'

Naruto started slightly at the first name. _Uchiha...could this Obito guy be the same one who gave Kakashi -sensei his sharingan? _Turning his attention back to Kakashi, he listened closely, realizing that this tale wasn't going to end well.

The tale was quick and to the point. Apparently, the team had been ambused by Rock ninjas while on the mission, resulting in one of the team members, Rin, being captured. When the other two went to rescue her, one of the ninjas activated a jutsu that caused the cave they were in to collaspe, crushing Obito after he pushed Kakashi out of the way of a boulder. He survived long enough to give Kakashi his Sharingan eye, to replace the one he lost earlier, and tell the other two to run.

When Kakashi finished, there was silence between the two ninjas. Naruto, feeling slightly guilty now for his earlier thoughts, broke the silence.

'_So that's why...you were hoping that we could've had a chance to change what happened on that mission.'_

He nodded. 'Yeah.'

The two were quiet again for a moment before Naruto said, _'We should probably go see what the stupid fox has to say about this. He did say to come see him after we figured it out. He might be able to explain how this happened.'_

'What? Oh, yeah...' Kakashi groaned. 'Do we really have to go see the demon, though? Despite the fact that Kakashi was 'speaking' in his normal bored tone, Naruto could sense the nervousness coming from the man. Which he didn't blame him for. Kakashi had been there when the fox attacked, could remember completely just how destructive the demon could be. In fact, he had probably been one of those on the front lines, being a jounin, even though he had only been a young teenager at the time. That night still probably gave many shinobi nightmares occasionally. Kakashi was most likely no exception. Unfortunately, they didn't really have a choice in the matter. If they didn't go willingly, the fox would make them come. Naruto told the jounin this, who groaned again.

'Although, now I'm really worried. If the nine-tails can force us...'

'_Don't worry about the state of the seal. He can only do that when I, or should I say, __**we**__ go to sleep or become unconscious.'_

'Right...' Even though Kakashi still had some misgivings about seeing the Kyuubi no Kitsune face to face for the first time in sixteen years,he knew they really didn't have much choice. 'So, how exactly do you visit the Kyuubi willingly anyway?'

'_Just leave it to me.'_

Getting up, Naruto put the calendar back on the wall, then closed the curtains before getting back in bed. In case anybody came in later, he wanted to make it look like he hadn't woken up yet.

Closing his eyes, he went into a meditative state, just as Jiraiya had taught him in an effort to control the fox's chakra. The Kyuubi's seal was essentially a deep part of his mind, and meditating was the fastest way to get there voluntarily.

Opening his eyes, Naruto saw the now familiar sewer-like tunnels. Standing next to him was Kakashi, (Naruto felt a sense of relief that they had their own bodies while in the seal) who was looking around in interest and slight surprise. Before he could voice the obvious question on his mind, Naruto said to him; "Yes, this is what the seal looks like. Always has. No idea if it could be changed into something else. Never really tried yet." Naruto looked at his sensei. "So, you ready for this?"

Kakashi took a deep breath, letting it out in a short burst. "As I'll ever be. I certainly don't like it, but you had a point. The Kyuubi may know how this happened, maybe even a way to reverse it. He _is _a thousands year old demon, after all. He's bound to know something, otherwise he wouldn't have wanted us here." Gesturing down the tunnel, he said. "Well, lead the way."

Naruto nodded, before stepping in the direction of the demon fox's cage, Kakashi following half a step behind.

Well, what do you think? Good? Bad? Constructive critism would be appreciated.


	2. Talk With the Kyuubi

Note: Edited slightly 8/28/07

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The credit goes to the genius Kishimoto.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. :D Sorry this took so long in coming though. This chapter gave me more trouble than I thought it would. I knew what I wanted but couldn't figure out how to get from point A to point B.

Since some of you have asked 'who controls the body?', I'll explain as best I can. Their control on their body, as well as anything else, is kind of like a DBZ fusion technique but without the time limit. They both control the body, though certain actions will be controlled more by one or the other; this is decided by a split-second, subconcious decision that they make. As for their voice, it's like their skin tone; it's a smooth mix, but leans more towards Kakashi's voice than Naruto's.

Now onto the next chapter!

Chapter 2: A Talk With the Kyuubi

They walked in silence, lost in their own thoughts, slowly walking to the area where the Kyuubi was kept.

"Naruto," Kakashi said after a couple minutes of walking. "I know you're probably thinking about all the changes we can make now that we're in the past. But keep in mind, time travel is dangerous for a reason. One wrong move on our part and we could kill our younger selves; and where do you think that leaves us?"

"Yeah, I know." Naruto replied sadly, before continuing with rising excitement. "But think about it. We could change so many bad things that happened. The Kyuubi's attack, Itachi killing his whole clan, Orochimaru's attack, Sasuke leaving, everything! If we-"

Kakashi cut him off. "Naruto! I know! Believe me, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to change those events as well. But we need to be careful with what we change. We could change something with the best intentions, but actually make things worse. We have to think through things completely before we change anything."

"The Cyclopes is right, gaki."

The two shinobi tensed when they heard the voice from around the next corner. Sharing a nervous look, they went around the corner, immediately faced with the ceiling high bar door. Staring at them from beyond the bars were the large red eyes of the Kyuubi.

"Amazing, you actually agree with someone?" Naruto said in a pseudo-amazed voice. "And with a minuscule human at that?"

Kyuubi bared his teeth. "Shut you mouth, brat. I was merely agreeing with simple common sense. At least someone here finally has some, unlike others I know." Kyuubi continued before Naruto could retaliate. "Moving on. It's about time you two got here. Seriously, how long does it take to figure out that you've traveled through time?"

Naruto scowled, hearing the insult behind those words. "You know, you could've-"

Kakashi covered his mouth with his hand, sending the younger nin a look that said, 'Save it 'till later.'

"What do you want, Kyuubi? You said you had something to say to us when we figured it out, so what?"

For a moment, Kyuubi looked like he would refuse to answer, but decided against it. He gave a loud huff of annoyance, before settling himself comfortably on the other side of the cage.

"Yes, well, before that, you two might want to think of an alias name to use. Obviously, you can't go by Uzumaki Naruto or Hatake Kakashi. And going by something like Uzumaki Kakashi would be a bad idea as well. So before we go onto more important matters, you have to take care of this small, but still important problem."

_I hate to say it, let alone think it, but Kyuubi has a point. _Kakashi thought, sighing.

"So, Kakashi-sensei...any ideas?" Naruto asked hopefully. "Kyuubi shot down everything I was thinking of."

Kakashi and Kyuubi stared at Naruto incredulously. "Are you serious? The best you could've come up with was like Uzumaki Kakashi?" Naruto merely rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Kakashi shook his head. _Naruto has his moments of genius, but sometimes..._ After tossing a few suggestions around, they decided on using 'Hazaki Narashi' in the end. (A/N: this is the name their physical body is going to go by from now on, cause I'm sick and tired of writing Naruto/Kakashi all the time and getting confused with the he/they problem. Now it will simply be 'Narashi' and 'he'.)

"Hmph. Now that that's taken care of, we can move onto more important things, mainly, what changes you can do."

Naruto looked at the fox demon suspiciously. "You say that almost like we have a limit on what we can change."

"That's because you do. Continuing with what Cyclopes here was saying, you need to think things through completely before you change them. There are many things you will not be able to do that you want to, since changing them would result in a worse situation overall. And I'm sure you don't want that." Kyuubi finished sarcastically.

Naruto scowled, but didn't say anything. Kakashi sent a quick look in Naruto's direction before turning back to the Kyuubi, asking, "And what exactly falls under the list of non-changeable events?"

Kyuubi sent a feral grin towards the two humans. "Well, first on that list is my past counterpart's attack on your pitiful village. I/he _will_ attack Konoha, there is no changing that. However, what you _do _during the attack is entirely up to you." Seeing that both Naruto and Kakashi were about to say something, he quickly added, "That is our next topic of discussion, so save your questions until then." Their mouths closed with an audible 'snap'.

"Continuing on, the next event you can't change is the Uchiha Massacre at the hands of Itachi."

"WHAT!" Naruto wouldn't be held back this time. Even Kakashi was slightly shocked, though not as much as Naruto. "What do you mean, we can't stop the Uchiha Massacre! If that didn't happen, Sasuke wouldn't have wanted get revenge, so he wouldn't have gone to Orochimaru for power!"

"Precisely!" Kyuubi roared. "Use you brain, idiot. I'm sure even _you_ have one, minuscule though it may be. What did Orochimaru want more than anything, excluding immortality?" Without waiting for an answer, Kyuubi kept speaking. "The sharingan. And who are the only ones with that eye?"

"Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, and Itachi." Naruto answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "But what does that...oh..." He stopped, coming to a realisation.

"Exactly." This time, it was Kakashi who spoke, understanding where the Kyuubi was going with this. "After Itachi killed his clan, he, Sasuke, and I were the only ones that Orochimaru could get the Sharingan eye from. If the Uchiha clan is saved, however, he could just take any Uchiha; and by the time we realised what he did, it would be too late to do anything about it." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't like it anymore than you do, Naruto, but Kyuubi is right." _Never thought I'd say something like that. _"If there is one event we can't change, it's that."

Naruto stared at the ground sadly. "Yeah, I know. But I really wanted to stop Sasuke from leaving. But if he's all bent on revenge..."

"Who said you couldn't?" Kyuubi asked, in a seemingly rare show of sympathy.

Naruto and Kakashi looked at the demon in shock, neither expecting that. "But, you said..."

"What I said was that the Uchiha Massacre had to happen. If you want to stop the Uchiha brat from going to the snake freak, be my guest." Kyuubi huffed loudly. "In fact, the longer you keep the eye away from Orochimaru, the better." He ignored Naruto's cheer of "Yatta!" and continued speaking. "Those two events are the main ones that _must _stay the same. Everything else is pretty much fair game. Just remember to think the consequences through completely before changing anything."

Naruto grinned. _This is great! I can finally stop Sasuke from making the biggest mistake of his life and fulfil my promise to Sakura-chan. _Kakashi just shook his head at Naruto's enthusiasm. _Only you, Naruto. Only you could make a complete emotional one-eighty in a few seconds._

"Naruto." Kakashi said, getting the blond's attention. "I know you're excited about this, and probably already thinking of ways to change it. But it's best if we focus on one thing at a time. And right now, the most important one we need to think about is the Kyuubi's attack in little over a year. We've got over ten years to worry about Sasuke, but only a year to figure out a plan of action for the attack."

Naruto had dropped the grin, his face turning serious. "Yeah, you're right." _As always. _"So, what are we going to do? And how? I'd like to just stop the fox from attacking in the first place, but apparently we can't do that." He grimaced. "Even if we tried, we'd probably fail and die in the attempt."

Kakashi stared at Naruto in shock. While he agreed with what Naruto said completely, (and had been ready to get the genin to understand that), he was surprised to hear a statement like that come out of _Naruto's _mouth, of all people. Noticing the look, Naruto stated with small scowl, "I may be reckless, but I'm not _that _stupid."

Kyuubi snorted. "Could've fooled me."

"WHO ASKED YOU!" Naruto yelled, shaking his fist at the kitsune. Kyuubi simply grinned in response.

Kakashi shook his head, the smirk on his face hidden by the ever-present mask. "Getting back to the main topic...Do you have anything in mind, Naruto? Or are you drawing a blank?"

Naruto was about to reply, when the Kyuubi cut him off. "I suppose it's too much to hope for, that you could just convince the Konoha ninjas to just stand back and let my past self do what he wants." His only response were twin glares that screamed, 'ABSOLUTELY NOT!' "Yeah, didn't think so..." _Geez, can't they take a simple joke..._

Naruto sighed in annoyance. "Anyway, ignoring the baka-kitsune's stupid suggestion," he said, turning to Kakashi. "I'm not really sure how, but I think that mainly, we should find a way to stop Yondaime from dying during the attack. Maybe if he survived, the villagers..." He faded off, looking at the ground, a distant look in his eyes. Kakashi looked at Naruto, a mix of emotions showing in his uncovered eye, ranging from remorse to anger to guilt. He knew that Naruto was thinking about the injustices the villagers had done to the boy in his childhood, and was upset with himself for never doing anything about it. _No doubt about it, Naruto. If Sensei had survived, you life would've been _very _different. Especially since..._He mentally sighed. _I'm going to need to tell him. Later, though. Now isn't the time._

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Kakashi said, "Yeah, I was thinking along similar lines. We can't stop the attack from happening and neither of us want events to happen exactly as they did previously."

Naruto shook his head in agreement. "Definitely not. But the only way to do it would be to stop him from doing the sealing, and either do it ourselves, or hope someone else is willing to do it. But from what I know of the Yondaime, I get the feeling he won't let either happen."

Kakashi shook his head. "No, he wouldn't. In fact, Sarutobi-sama tried to stop him, saying that he'd do it instead, but he wouldn't hear a word of it, saying that it was his job as Hokage to protect the village." He chuckled slightly. "As Jiraiya-sama might have told you, Sensei was definitely Fire Country's most stubborn person, or at least one of them. Reminds me of another blue-eyed blond I know, actually," he added with a smirk.

"We just never know when to quit," Naruto responded, his large, trademark grin in place. It dropped when he got serious again. "So, what are we going to do? I suppose if we had no choice, we could just knock the guy out (or try to, at least) and take his place in the sealing. But that would end up with _us _dead instead. And while I'm completely willing to die for the village like any other shinobi, I'd rather live to see the results of any changes we make."

"Agreed," Kakashi said, nodding. "We'll keep that option as a last resort, and _only _as a last resort. But there's a whole year until the attack. That should be enough time to come up with something. Who knows? Maybe with a year-long warning, instead of a few weeks, the Hokage might come up with a better sealing method than having to use the Shinigami."

"Not likely," Kyuubi scoffed, speaking for the first time in a while. He continued before either human could respond. "No mortal being has enough power to seal a demon, much less a powerful one like myself. That's why the Hokage had to summon the Death God int the first place. Only the gods themselves or another demon can seal a demon. Perhaps even a summon boss if it was a lesser demon (which I most certainly am NOT) being sealed."

"Yeah, we know all that already. Everyone does." Naruto interrupted, looking irritated. "Why are you telling us this? What's you point?"

"I'm telling you this so that you two will actually consider the offer I'm about to make as one of the few options you actually have," Kyuubi answered, baring his teeth. Seeing the suspicious look the other two were sending him, he added, "You will want to actually think about this offer instead of just throwing it out the window in an instant. Believe me, I wouldn't be makingit if I didn't believe tht it would yeild the best results. Not just for the attack but for everything else."

Kakashi and Naruto shared a suspicious and slightly worried look, both thinking about what the Kyuubi was about to suggest. Turning back to the demon fox, Naruto said, "Fine, we're listening. What is it? And it better not be stupid like that other _'suggestion' _you made."

"It's not," Kyuubi growled in response. He huffed in annoyance, seriously reconsidering his decision. "As I was saying earlier before I was so _rudely _interrupted, only the gods or demons have the power to defeat/seal a demon, particularly one such as myself, which is why mortals, like the Yondaime, have to summon the God of Death, Shinigami, in order to complete it. But in exchange, the user immediately loses his life. Unfortunately, if you were to replace the hokage in your _current_ state, you would face the same fate, something none of us want."

"What do you mean by '_current_ state'?" Kakashi asked, frowning in confusion and increasing worry and suspicion. Naruto had a similar look on his face, though with more confusion.

Kyuubi chuckled. "Oh, I think you know precisely what I mean, Kakashi. But if you want, I'll explain it in simple terms that even the blond idiot here can understand."

"Hey!"

Again, Kyuubi ignored Naruto's outburst. "What I'm offering is this; fuse with my chakra, all nine tails worth of it, so you may be able to fight and seal my past self with at least _some _chance of survival."

There was a long moment of silence between the three. Then both shinobi spoke simultaneously.

"WHAT!"

"What made you think we'd agree to that, baka-kitsune!" yelled Naruto. "Just using four tails gives you total control over my body! Using all nine would practically be releasing you from the seal. At which point, you'd probably join you past self in destroying Konoha!"

"SILENCE!" Kyuubi roared. "Use you eyes, baka! Take a close look at this seal door. What do you see different?"

Naruto stopped himself from saying the first thing he though, then looked at the cell door, trying to find out what the fox meant. He knew something was wrong since he and Kakashi had arrived, but hadn't been able to put his finger on it. Kakashi looked at the seal door closely as well, trying to see if anything could be amiss, despite never seeing the seal before today. Hearing a gasp beside him, he turned to see Naruto staring at the center of the door in shock.

"What is it, Naruto?" he asked, looking at the spot where Naruto was looking. But all he saw was a thick bar in the center. Nothing else. _But that's probably the problem. Something's missing._

"It's gone. The seal isn't there." Naruto answered, completely shocked at the implications of this. Kakashi's eye widened.

"Wha-!"

"Exactly." Kyuubi growled out. "The seal is technically gone, yet I am still here. I can still give you chakra, but can no longer influence you thoughts or actions with it. In fact," Kyuubi raised his paw to strike the bars, like he did the first time he and Naruto first met face to face. Naruto and Kakashi both tensed, ready to jump back in an instant, only to be rather surprised when Kyuubi's claws bounced off some kind of invisible barrier, causing a large shockwave ripple through it. " I doubt even the Akatsuki's demon removal method could get me out, now."

Kyuubi looked at Naruto. "Do you understand now? No matter how many tails of chakra I give you, I can not control your body. Of course, whether or not your _body _can control that amount of chakra without burning is another matter entirely," he added with a sadistic chuckle.

Kakashi frowned, his eye narrowing. "That seems rather contradictory with what you were saying earlier, Kyuubi. How could we use you power like you were suggesting, when our body is likely to combust from all the youki?" Naruto nodded in agreement.

Kyuubi sighed, his annoyance obvious. "You weren't listening very carefully when I made my offer. What I said was for you to _fuse_ with my power, not borrow and return when you're done." Three eyes instantly widened in sudden understanding and shock. Kyuubi grinned, fully enjoying their reactions. "Ah, I see you two are finally understanding what I've been saying for the past 20-30 minutes."

Once again, silence reigned over the three. Naruto, looking warily at the giant kitsune in front of him, said, "What exactly would happen _if_, and that's a big 'if', we decided to go your idea?"

"In short," Kyuubi replied, his grin widening._ I should just tell them the basics, that way they'll agree faster_. "you would essentially become the Kyuubi no Kitsune. And no, that doesn't mean that you become instantly evil and bent on destroying everything in your path." Kyuubi quickly added before Naruto or Kakashi could say anything. "Don't start yelling at me before I can explain completely. So just shut up and listen."

Seeing that he had their full attention, he continued. "To start off, there are actually many different kitsune types. Some are bent on total destruction; some are healers; others just want to learn everything there is to know; there's probably even one or two that are exactly like that lazy, cloud loving bum you call a friend." Kyuubi added, scoffing. Naruto snorted, barely holding back his laughter, while Kakashi simply eye-smiled. "I just simply chose to become a destruction kitsune. But even though it will be my youki you'll be absorbing, that doesn't mean you'll become the same type of demon fox that I did. In fact, knowing the two of you, you'd probably be more inclined to become a protector kitsune of some kind. But we can deal with that later, if and when you reach that point.

"Now, as for physical changes, you can probably guess what'll happen. After you receive the first tail of youki, you're true form will be that of a fox with however many tails you have. Or, at least, one of them. The second is when you transform into your human form, an ability that all demons have. While for the most part, your appearance will be human, you will have some fox attributes, such as the ears and tails, as well as claws and longer canines. All these changes, however, can be hidden beneath a simple yet powerful illusion that not even the strongest of doujustus can see through. We foxes are the best at such things, after all.

"Power wise, I don't think I need to tell you just how much power you would be gaining. My own chakra is near infinite. Add in your own combined chakra, tiny though it may be compared to my own." Naruto's eyes narrowed in annoyance at the jab, but didn't say anything, knowing the demon was right. "So, anything else you two want to know before you decide?"

They looked at each other, then nodded coming to a decision. Looking back at the Kyuubi, Naruto asked the question on both their minds. "Why are you making this offer? You hate being sealed away like this, so why help us? What exactly do you have to gain from this?"

Kyuubi scoffed. "Of course I hate it. Unfortunately, the sealing, like the attack itself and the Uchiha Massacre, is one of those events that _must_ happen, otherwise things will only turn out worse. The only reason I'm offering you my power completely is because it's the only way to make sure you actually_ survive_ the upcoming battle. That, and it's the only thing I _can _do, with the seal being stronger than ever before for some reason." He stared hard at the two shinobi before him. "You don't have to like it, but you two both know that this is the only thing you can do if you truly desire to keep Yondaime-teme alive this time. So, do you agree or not?"

Naruto and Kakashi bowed their heads in thought, thinking carefully over all that the demon fox had told them. The Kyuubi was right; neither of them liked the plan, but at the same time, they knew that any other plan they could come up with had very slim chances of the Kyuubi no Kitsune being sealed, the Yondaime Hokage still living, _and _themselves surviving.

But still...

Kakashi sighed, looking at Kyuubi. "Give us a few days to think about this and we'll give you our answer."

...that didn't mean they were going to agree right off the bat.

"Tch. Fine. You have three days to come to a final decision. If you don't come to a definite plan of action by the end of 72 hours," he grinned, "I'll just start the process of fusing my chakra to yours, whether you like it or not." The glares they sent him only made his grin widen. "Glare at me all you want, but that's _my _final decision. You have three days. What'll be yours?"

And with that final question, and a burst of chakra, Kyuubi sent the other two out of the 'seal-scape' and into the 'real world'.

Hazaki Narashi instantly opened his eyes and shot up in bed, gasping for breath. Looking around he saw that he was back in the hospital room he'd woken up in previously.

Narashi growled in annoyance. "I hate it when the damn fox does that." _'Always makes me feel like I'm waking up from a bad nightmare.'_

'In a sense, you are. Kyuubi is practically a nightmare in and of himself.'

'_Good point.'_

Looking around the room more closely, Narashi noticed that the curtains and window had been opened, meaning that someone, most likely a medic, had come in. Idly, he thought, _good thing that he/she wasn't in here right now, otherwise, they probably would've had a heart attack. _By the position of the sun outside the window, it was about mid-morning.

Narashi sighed. _'So...what do we do now?'_


	3. Discoveries

Disclaimer: Not mine, Kishimoto's.

Note: Edited 9/1/07. The Yondaime's name from here on out is going to be changed from Kazama Arashi to the recently revealed one, Namikaze Minato.

Key (quote marks ARE important)

_thoughts_

_'Naruto speaking'_

'Kakashi speaking'

**'Kyuubi speaking'**

* * *

Chapter 3: Discoveries 

Narashi was lying on a hospital bad, arms crossed behind his head, seemingly deep in thought as he stared at the ceiling above him. For the past ten minutes, Narashi has been trying to figure out any arguments against using the Kyuubi's idea or trying to find out anything else that they might be able to do. So far, though, they haven't had much luck in either.

'_Maybe we could use the Rasen Shuriken. With enough power behind it, it's bound to put even the nine-tails out of commission long enough that we could seal it without killing ourselves, or actually becoming a demon to do it.'_

'That plan could probably work, but you seem to be forgetting something, Naruto. That jutsu is just as dangerous to the user as the victim. Yes, with enough power, the Rasen Shuriken could do a lot of damage to even the Kyuubi; but it could also _destroy _our arm in the process, and most likely kill or seriously wound anyone with the blast radius, as well. Remember how big that crater was when you hit Kakuzu? Not to mention, while your own healing rate is fast, the Kyuubi's at full strength was even faster. We'd have maybe a minute or two _tops _to do anything before the fox demon would be completely healed again.'

'_Well, I don't see you coming up with anything! If you're going to shoot down everything I come up with, why don't you think of a plan?'_

'I'm merely pointing out the flaws I see in your ideas. And it's not that I'm not thinking of anything, it's just that so many things can go wrong with everything I've thought of that I'm not going to bother saying them. We only really get one chance at this; we screw up and it's over.'

'_Well, what's one idea you have? You never know, we could make it work.'_

_I'm going to regret this, I just know it._ Kakashi thought, before saying, 'If you want to know so badly, here's a recent one I thought up. Instead of having one person sealing Kyuubi, have multiple ninja do so; the combined power might be enough.'

'_But what if that isn't enough? Rather than one person dying, it would be more.'_

'I know. That's why I didn't want to say it, cause I knew it would be pointless.'

'_Oh...'_

Narashi frowned up at the ceiling above him. Everything he could think up has so many problems, he could never consider doing them. His frown deepened. It all comes back to what the Kyuubi offered. Narashi really didn't like it, but he's right. Out of everything, it has the highest possibility of getting the results he wanted; Yondaime living, Kyuubi defeated/sealed, and Narashi surviving the fight to see the results.

But it also means being treated like a demon. Again. He's already gone through that once, he didn't want to repeat the experience. It'd be even worse this time, cause the villagers would be _right. _Narashi would be a demon. Maybe not a bad one like the Kyuubi, but a demon nonetheless.

Then again, he continued thinking as he turned on his side, looking out the window at the Hokage mountain. Maybe the villagers wouldn't think like that. If he went with Kyuubi's suggestion, he'd be doing it to defeat the demon fox that'll be attacking in a year. Maybe if that happens, the villagers would actually see past the demon and see him as the hero the Yondaime meant for Naruto to be in the original time line.

"Or maybe," Narashi muttered, scoffing slightly, "I should stop worrying about all the 'maybes' and think about something else for awhile." He turned back onto his back, arm over his eyes. "I can probably come up with better ideas tomorrow when my head is clearer, anyway."

He laid there in complete silence, both physical and mental. After a while, he sighed, somewhat sadly. _Now's as good a time as any._

'Naruto?'

'_Hm...yeah? What is it, Kakashi-sensei?'_

'There's something important I need to tell you. Technically, you aren't supposed to know yet; but considering where, or rather, when we are, you'll find out sooner or later. Might as well be now.'

'_What do you mean?'_

Another sigh. 'There's no other way to say this, so I'm just going to be blunt. The Yondaime Hokage, other wise known as Namikaze Minato, was your father.'

Naruto was shocked speechless. He didn't know how to react to that piece of news. How was he supposed to react after finding out that the man who sealed the Kyuubi no Kitsune in you, essentially ruining his life, was also his father?

'Naruto..?' Kakashi said slowly, worried about his student's reaction, or lack thereof.

That got Naruto out of his shocked state. Immediately, he started asking questions, getting louder and angrier with each question. _'But, how can that be possible? Why didn't anyone ever tell me? Who else knows? Does everyone know except me, like it was with the Kyuubi a few years ago? And if he was my father, then why did he-?'_

Naruto stopped his line of questioning suddenly, unable to finish the last one because of the implications behind it. Kakashi ended up finishing for him. 'Why did he seal the demon fox into his only newborn son?'

Narashi sat up, arms loosely around his knees, head bowed. He took a deep breath before continuing with his mental explanation.

'I'll answer any questions you have Naruto, the best that I can. But let me explain completely first before you ask any more questions, ok?' Getting an affirmative from Naruto, Kakashi started.

'To answer you question of who knows, it's not that many people, like with the kyuubi. The only ones who know, or knew, are myself, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the Sandaime. If anyone else know, they figured it out on their own and kept quiet about it. Nobody else was supposed to know that the Yondaime's child hadn't died in childbirth with his wife. Not until you were either eighteen years old, or promoted to jounin, whichever came first. That's when you would have been told originally.

'As for why, it was for your _protection. _Minato-sensei made a _lot _of enemies when he was alive; enemies that would try to kill you for revenge in a heartbeat if the knew of your heritage. Kakashi made a slight scoffing noise. 'I've lost count of the number of times someone has attacked me, before I made a name for myself, to get revenge on Konoha's 'White Fang'. Chiyo-baasama being the most recent.'

Narashi chuckled softly, remembering the little, old woman, who had actually been stronger then her age had originally implied.

'And for your last question, I think you already understand you father's, Yondaime's choice, at least in part. Being Hokage has been your dream for as long as I've known you. Surely you know what that means?' Sensing Naruto's confusion, Kakashi kept speaking. 'How can any Hokage ask someone else to sacrifice their own child, when they are unwilling to do the same themselves?'

Narashi's eyes widened in shock as the realisation hit Naruto. He'd never really thought of it like that. But it did make perfect sense. Anybody who had claimed to become Hokage someday since before joining the ninja academy should be able to understand that. True, it still hurt a little (ok, a lot) to know that his own father had sealed his fate with the sealing of the Kyuubi no Yokai. But Naruto knew that had he been in his father's place, he would've done the same thing if he could. Kakashi, sensing Naruto's understanding, mentally smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

'Now do you understand? Why he did what he did?'

'_Yeah. Better than I did before at least. Ever since I found out about the fox, I've always wondered why the Yondaime chose me out of all the kids born that day. Now I know.' _Naruto suddenly realized something rather important. _'Hey, Kakashi-sensei? I just realised, but what exactly are we going to tell the Yondaime anyway? I mean, we want to change how that attack ended, right? And the best way to do that would be to make sure that the village had a proper warning about the Kyuubi so everyone can be ready when the time comes. We'd probably need to explain about _how _we know as well. So, how much are we going to tell?'_

'Hmm...well, I've been thinking about that and I figured it would be best if we kept what we told to the bare minimum at the moment. For now, we can just tell them about the kyuubi attack and a brief explanation of where we come from and how. Maybe even that 'Hazaki Narashi' is actually two people. But we should keep our actual identities a secret for as long as possible.'

'_Really? Why? I mean, I understand that it could be dangerous if anyone found out, but wouldn't it make them trust us a bit more though if they knew? They're obviously going to wonder, especially if we use justus that we shouldn't know.'_

'I know that. But bad things generally seem to happen when someone goes back in time and meets themselves, especially if the younger version finds out. I don't want to know what could happen if thirteen year old Hatake Kakashi found out that his thirty year old self somehow ended up seventeen years in the past with his sensei's sixteen year old son, fused into one body.'

Narashi stopped, blinking, thinking about that sentence for a minute. Shaking his head, he said, "And put in that way, that just increased the weirdness of the situation. Definitely."

'Moving on. While it would be bad if younger Kakashi (feels strange speaking about myself in third person) found out about me, it'd be even worse if anyone found out about _you._ Like I said earlier, you don't even _exist _yet, Naruto. And you won't for at least another three months.'

'_Okay, useful though that information might be, I _REALLY _don't want to continue down that line of conversation anymore._'

'What?' Naruto could easily imagine the wide smirk on Kakashi's masked face. 'Embarrassed at the thought of your parents having-'

'_KAKASHI-SENSEI!'_

Narashi started laughing from Naruto's reaction, a slight blush spreading across his whiskered cheeks. He was careful to keep his laughter quiet, not wanting any of the medics outside to hear him and come into the room to see him laughing at apparently nothing. After he stopped, he sat cross-legged on the bed with his chin in his palm, looking out the window toward the monument.

But before he could restart with the mental conversation, Narashi heard someone just outside the door of his hospital room. Stiffening slightly, Narashi looked toward the door just as it opened. Seeing the blond, spiky hair and blue eyes of this visitor, Narashi's own mismatched eyes widened and he barely managed to stop himself from saying something that he would've later regretted.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Namikaze Minato has definitely had a stressful few weeks lately. Everything was just one headache on top of another. Many of which were caused by his recent promotion to Yondaime Hokage. Fourth Generation Fire Shadow. Yes, it was a great honor to be even _considered_ for the position of Hokage, let alone actually achieving it. But...

_Being Hokage isn't what I'd originally though it would be like. Yeah, I'm acknowlegde as the best in the village, but if I'd known just _how much damn paperwork _was involved in the job, I'd have declined. I swear, every time I sit behind that desk, I can hear Sarutobi-sama cackling evilly in the background somewhere at my misfortune._

Minato heaved a heavy sigh. Of course, the old man just_ had _to leave his successor to deal with the new peace treaty between Leaf and Stone. And it's _such _a big help that Minato, as the Yellow Flash, was the main reason Iwagakure surrendered in the first place. _I suppose killing three-hundred of their shinobi in one battle, essentially single-handedly, would put one's enemies off a bit._

It didn't help that Minato was still getting over the grief caused by the death of one of his students, Uchiha Obito.

Arashi sighed sadly, thinking about his student and the effect his death has had on the remaining members of the team. Rin had hardly stopped crying since returning to the village. She tried to put on a happy face while in public, but those who knew her could easily see through it. Kakashi was even more closed off from people than ever before. And that was saying something. If he wasn't locked up his apartment, he was sitting in front of the memorial stone, continually rubbing his new eye.

The sharingan was the cause of another one of the many headaches that plagued Minato lately. To say the Uchiha clan had been happy that someone outside the clan had received their precious doujustu would be like saying that Jiraiya was just a _little _perverted. Minato grimaced, remembering their reactions. It was only Minato's reputation as the Yellow Flash, as well as being one the prime candidates for Hokage that kept the Uchiha head and council members from demanding that the eye be taken out and Kakashi stripped of his shinobi licence for murdering a teammate in order to steal the sharingan.

Not that they hadn't _tried_, of course. The fact that Obito was killed by an enemies justu and that the eye was a _gift_ to Kakashi was completely ignored by Uchiha Fugaku. But just because the clan head refused to believe it didn't mean that the young jounin deserved to be punished for something he didn't do.

_Kami knows he's punishing himself enough for what happened. Even though he couldn't have done anything to change what happened. If anyone was at fault, it's me. If I hadn't left or only arrived sooner, I could've stopped it._

Minato scoffed, a humorless smile curling on his lips, while shaking his head. Well wasn't he sounding hypocritical now. Saying that what happened wasn't Kakashi's fault, yet putting the blame on himself. Everyone involved with the mission was probably blaming themselves in some way. Heck, if Konoha's mysterious guest found out, he'll probably feel guilty as well about showing up unconscious after the fact; maybe think that if he'd shown up earlier and awake, he could've done something to help.

Thinking about the 'mysterious guest' reminded Minato why he was walking down Konoha's streets towards the hospital in the first place. He had to admit, it was a miracle that the guy had survived. Even with his limited medical knowledge, he could easily figure it out from the condition he was in when Minato, Kakashi, and Rin had been coming back to Konoha after the mission gone wrong.

Just from the sheer chakra output that all three felt before finding him, it seemed like he had opened nearly all eight Celestial Gates. The severity of the chakra burns covering the man's body supported the theory. The damage to his chakra coils and tenketsu was extremely large as well. From what Hyuuga Hizashi had said after looking at him with the Byakugan, it was like half a dozen powerful Hyuugas had done the Hakke Rokujuuyon Shoo (Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms) simultaneously, then for him to use the Celestial Gates to reopen his tenketsu, blasting them open so forcefully, that they were visible to even a non-Hyuuga. It'll be amazing if the anonymous ninja well ever be able to use his chakra without feeling pain, if he is able to use it at all.

If the damages to his chakra system weren't enough, the man had had multiple cuts, bruises, and cracked or broken bones to add to his list of injuries. Frankly, the damage to his body was so great that if Tsunade hadn't been in the village at the time they returned, he probably wouldn't have survived. (Admittedly, Minato was a little surprised to see her there and that she'd been willing to help, considering her phobia, but figured that her medic-instinct had demanded that she help, fear or not.)

Minato honestly didn't know why he and his remaining students had helped him. True, nobody should be left in that terrible condition, but for all they knew, he could be an Iwa-nin/spy that will betray his rescuers the first chance he gets. But there was no actual proof of his origins. Minato couldn't recognise his face from any bingo book he'd seen (and with those whisker-like marks, it'd be hard to forget). Also, despite the fact that he had a leaf hitae-ate on his forehead, neither of the leaf ninjas recognized him, making the possibility that he was a spy even greater.

But so soon after Obito's death, no one on Team Minato had been willing to just let someone who hadn't done anything wrong (to their knowlegde) die and not do something about it. So, deciding to give the man the benefit of the doubt, Rin had done what she could to stabilize the man and the three of them had raced back to Konoha with the unconscious ninja in tow.

Over the past two weeks, Minato hadn't had much time to come see the mysterious nin after he came out of critical care. He had told the hospital staff to notify him the instant he woke up, though.

But today, he had been desperate for any excuse to get out of the Hokage tower and away from the mountain of paperwork he already had. So he had decided to come visit, even if the guy was still dead to the world. Besides, Minato might bet lucky and he'll wake up while he was there.

_I just hope that he doesn't cause my recent headache to return with a vengeance. I have enough to deal with, without having more._

So that was what brought Minato to stand in front of the door of the man's hospital room. He'd been told by the medics that he had healed surprisingly quickly considering what had happened to him. Apparently, all that was left was for him to wake up and he'd be able to leave so long as he took it easy for another week or two afterwards. Of course, that only pertained to his _physical_ health. Whether or not he was mentally able to do so was undecided, and that could only be proven _after_ the man woke up. And the last time the medics had checked that morning, he wasn't.

So it was quite understandable that Minato was shocked when he entered the room that the mystery man was not only awake but sitting up and completely alert as well.

Stopping suddenly, the two stared at each other, shock evident on both their faces. Minato couldn't be sure in the present lighting, but looking in the other man's eyes (which were one of the stranger pairs he had seen in a while), he could see a myriad of emotions, ranging from pure joy to sadness to anger before becoming the slightly emotionless, but still a little surprised with a hint of excitement, mask that shinobi were known for.

Minato smiled, hoping to break the slightly awkward silence that had formed between them. "Ah, I see you've finally woken up. You've been unconscious for two weeks. Considering the condition you were in when my team and I found you, it's amazing that you're still breathing, let alone wide awake now." Closing the door behind him, Minato pulled up a chair and sat down beside the bed. "I suppose introductions are in order." Still smiling, he held out his hand, saying, "Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure."

Smiling as well, causing his eyes to curve inn a strangely familiar way that Minato couldn't place, he returned the handshake. "Hazaki Narashi. Pleasure to meet you, Hokage-sama."

Minato grimaced slightly at the title, still not used to it. "Please, just Minato is fine. I've only just recently become the Hokage, and I'm still not used to the title." _Not to mention, it make me fell really old when someone calls me that._

The man, Narashi, replied with a faint smirk. "As you wish, _Hokage-sama_."

Minato mentally groaned. _And her I was hoping that Jiraiya-sensei, Kakashi, and Rin would be the only ones to get actual enjoyment out of calling me that._

Narashi, seeing the irritated look on Minato's face, started laughing a little. "Sorry, sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "But joking aside, could you tell me what you meant when you said it was amazing that I was still alive? How did I get her, exactly?"

Nodding, having expected these questions at some point, Minato started explaining how Narashi was found, the condition he was in, and how he'd gotten here. For some reason that he couldn't understand, Narashi had flinched slightly and his eyes had filled with pained sadness when he told him when and where his team had found him. After he had finished, Minato waited for Narashi to absorb all that he'd been told before asking his own question.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you get into that state in the first place? What happened?"

Seeing the suddenly serious expression on Narashi's face, the Yondaime Hokage suddenly realised that his earlier hope that the appearance of Hazaki Narashi wouldn't bring any more stress than he already had just wasn't going to happen.

_Damn._

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the 3 week wait. I just couldn't figure out how I wanted Naruto to react to the bombshell. Left me stumped for a while. I'm still not satisfied with it though. Oh well, I can revise when I finish. 

Thanks again to all reviewers. Really appreciate it.


	4. Explanations

Dislcaimer: Just like (nearly) everyone on this site, I'm just an amateur writer that's borrowing someone else's characters for a while.

Note: Edited 9/1/07. From now on, Kazama Arashi is going to now be the recently revieled true name, Namikaze Minato.

Key:

_thoughts_

'Kakashi speaking'

_'Naruto speaking'_

**'Kyuubi speaking'**

**_'Two or all speaking at the same time.' _**(depends on who's speaking)

Chapter 4: Explanations

It would've been a complete lie to say that Narashi wasn't shocked, but also ecstatic at the sight of Minato standing in the doorway. He had been planning on telling the Yondaime about the attack coming up in a year, but had been worried about when he'd get the chance. And here the man was, standing right in front of him.

The sound of Minato speaking brought Narashi out of his thoughts. "Ah. I see you've finally woken up. You've been unconscious for two weeks. Considering the condition you were in when my team and I found you, it's amazing that you're still breathing, let alone wide awake now."

'What? Two weeks...but that means that...'

'_Didn't that mission-gone-wrong that you told me about earlier happen two weeks ago? If we have the date right at least.'_

'Yeah, it did. Although, did they find us before or after the fight?'

While Narashi had been thinking about that, Minato had sat down in one of the chairs in the room, and now held out his hand, a smile on his face. "I suppose introductions are in orders. Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure."

Returning the smile and handshake, Narashi replied, "Hazaki Narashi. Pleasure to meet you, Hokage-sama."

Seeing the other man's slight grimace, Naruto, for one, started feeling a little confused, whereas Kakashi just got amused, feelings that increased from what Minato said. "Please, just Minato is fine. I've only recently become Hokage, and I'm still not used to the title."

'_He doesn't like being called "Hokage-sama?"'_

'Nope. Said it made him feel as old as the Sandaime. There were only three exceptions for him; when he was in a meeting with council members, leaders and/or ninjas from other villages, or complete strangers. Even then, he makes it perfectly clear which name he preferred. Those closest to him, myself included, got a lot of entertainment by calling him Hokage, especially since he couldn't really do anything about it.It was just too much fun to mess with him like that.

So, of course, knowing that, Narashi just had to take the opportunity to do the same. "As you wish, _Hokage-sama_," he said, a smirk twitching on his lips. Which immediately turned into a laugh when he saw the look on Minato's face.

"Sorry, sorry," Narashi said, not meaning a single word. "But, joking aside, what did you mean when you said that it was amazing that I was still alive? How did I get here, exactly?"

Minato nodded, obviously expecting the questions, before starting. Listening to Minato's explanation and when they were found, Narashi couldn't stop the feeling of pain that shot through his heart.

'So close. Obito hadn't even been dead for a full day before we showed up.'

'_Yeah, we were close. But there's no use worrying about 'what ifs.' Honestly, Kakashi-sensei, by the sound of it, even if we had shown up earlier, we wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway. For that matter, I'm surprised we've been unconscious for so long. Usually, with the Kyuubi's healing ability, it only takes one good night's nest and I'm good to go. Why would it take so long to heal?'_

'Hmm...You know, you raise a good point. When you fought Sasuke a few years ago, you nearly died. Multiple times, by the sounds of the medical report. And yet, you were out of the hospital and leaving for your training trip with Jiraiya after a few days. And even though we were doing some pretty intense sparring before being sent back, with us using some of our more powerful jutsus, even combined the damage we had would've only kept us in the hospital for a few hours _tops_, even without Kyuubi's healing power. There's no explanation for why we had the injuries Minato-sensei says we had or for us to be unconscious for two whole weeks.'

'**BAKAS! Must I explain **_**everything**_**?'**

Narashi _barely _managed to keep himself from jumping three feet into the air, or showing any other outward sign of surprise, not wanting Minato to think something was wrong. Though that didn't stop him from mentally expressing his shock and anger. It was so easy sometimes to forget that Kyuubi could speak to them anytime as well.

'_Stupid Fox/Kyuubi! Don't do that!'_

'**I'll do whatever the hell I want! You have no right to tell **_**me**_**, the strongest of the biju, greatest of the nine, demo-HEY, are you listening to me?!'**

'_Tch. To that self-gratifying spiel of yours? Of course not! Now tell us what you want. You obviously know what we want to know, so spill.'_

'**Grrr...fine! But it will have to wait until the brat of a Hokage leaves. It'll take a while to explain the complex theory in a way that even your simple, human minds can understand it.' **Kyuubi ignored the feeling of furious indignation rising from the other two. **'Anyway, until then, focus on what the Yondaime is saying now. Otherwise, he really will think something is wrong with you. Then again,'** Kyuubi added sadistically. **'Isn't talking to yourself a sign of craziness amongst you humans? Considering that, one has to wonder just how crazy you are.'** Kyuubi ended with a laugh, heading back to the depths of his cage.

'_SHUT UP!'_

Scowling slightly, Narashi turned his full attention back to Minato just in time to catch his question. "-mind me asking, how did you get in that state in the first place? What happened?"

The annoyed scowl immediately turned into a serious frown as Narashi thought about how to answer that question. After staring at his bed sheets in silence for a few minutes, Narashi looked up and stared at Minato's face, which had quickly dropped all previous friendliness, instead becoming what Kakashi had long ago dubbed his "mission face." Minato now looked every bit the Hokage he was said to have been.

"If it alright with you, Yondaime-sama," Narashi started, using the title to show Minato just how serious he was right now. "But I would prefer to save my answer until later, when we're somewhere no one can overhear us, preferably your office. What I have to tell you is for _your ears only. _I will answer any question you have that I can, but not here. The hospital is too open to risk someone listening in who shouldn't."

Minato stared back at Narashi for a moment, before nodding. "Very well. You're right, the hospital is too open for what you apparently want to discuss. In fact," he stood up. "I should probably got tell the medics that you're awake. If you're feeling well enough, we can head to the Hokage Tower after getting you checked over and cleared."

He smiled, some of the seriousness leaving his face. "Your clothes are in the closet there. Despite your injuries, they weren't that damaged, so they were cleaned and repaired for when you finally woke up. There's also an extra roll of bandages in there, since I noticed that you seemed use them to cover the scars on your cheeks in a kind of half mask."

Narashi blinked, surprised at the information. "T-thanks, Minato," he finally managed to get out. Minato grinned, before leaving with a quick "See you in a bit."

After the door closed with a soft "snap," Narashi let out a quick burst of air, releasing the tension from a few minutes ago. Curious, he looked toward the wardrobe against the opposite wall, wondering what he new outfit looked like.

'It makes sense that if our bodies merged, then so did our clothes.'

'_Yeah.'_

'Though I have to admit, I'm a little worried. I do _not _want to wear any of that "kill-me-orange" that you're so fond of.'

'_What's that mean?'_

'You know exactly what I mean. I've told you often enough. Orange is not a good color for a ninja. Kami only knows how many times I wanted to burn that old jumpsuit of yours.'

'_Hmph! Yeah, well, no sense in arguing over it. If it's orange, you'll just have to deal with it.' _With that, Narashi got out of bed and walked over to the closet, throwing open the door.

Admittedly, it wasn't as bad as either thought it would be. To Kakashi's immense relief, it wasn't completely orange. On the floor of the closet were a pair of standard shinobi sandals with a roll of bandages next to them, apparently to be wrapped about the shins in the way most shinobi preferred. Folded next to them was a pair of navy blue sweat pants. Hanging from one of the hangers was a black sleeveless shirt similar to what Naruto wore. Next to that was a jacket identical to Naruto's own in design, but with the orange replaced by navy blue, with the spirals on the sleeves and back being orange. On the shelf overhead was the extra roll of bandages that Arashi had said would be there. (A/N: A link to a picture of Narashi is in my profile.)

Satisfied with the alterations, Narashi started changing our of the hospital pajamas and into his new/old clothes.

'_Alright, Kyuubi. Yondaime's gone now, so talk. What do you know? In fact, now that I think about it you kicked us out of the seal before we could ask some questions we wanted to know the answers to.'_

'**I figured you already had enough to think about without trying to understand the complexities of time travel. And talking about changes to the timeline of events seemed more important than wondering how we were sent back.'**

'Well, now's as good a time to talk about that as any. Why were we so injured? Why would it take so long to heal? Despite the seal being stronger than ever, I doubt it would affect how your healing abilities work. More importantly, how were we sent back in the first place?'

'**Well for you last question, you know as much as I do (as much as I hate to admit it). The two of you were fighting, a large ball of concentrated chakra fell from the sky, engulfing you both before you could do anything, and then you wake up here. I don't know who, why, or how it was possible. Considering the amount of techniques in the world, I'm sure there's at least one out there that could bring a person through time, theoretically, even though I don't know any (believe me, if I did, I'd have used it **_**years **_**ago).**

'**Even if someone knew one of these techniques, it would take an **_**extremely **_**large amount of chakra and hours of preparation to travel just a few **_**minutes **_**through time, never mind years. The amount to accomplish **_**that**_** would have been so large that civilians halfway around the world would've been able to feel it building up. And yet nobody noticed until it was too late to react. **

'**Ignoring the sheer amount of chakra necessary and saying that the user survived the drain, the trip going through the timestream would literally tear apart anything going through. That's why you were so injured and why it took so long. I had to use practically all my chakra and yours as well to keep you alive. By the time we left that dimension, I was so exhausted, I wouldn't have been able to heal a papercut. I may have a near infinite well of chakra, but **_**I **_**have my limits.**

'**So, is there anything **_**else**_** you want to know now, or can I go back to sleep? Two weeks may have been enough for you to regain most of your chakra, but I"m still missing about half of my full power.'**

There was a moment of silence as Narashi paused in binding his right leg with the bandages, pondering all that Kyuubi had told him and his question.

'_Nah, we're good. You pretty much answered any questions we had right now.'_

'If we come up with any more, we'll either answer them ourselves or wait until you're more willing to answer.'

'**Fine, then I'm going back to sleep.' **There was a slight pause, as if Kyuubi was thinking about saying anything else. **'But, before I do and end up forgetting, there's one more thing I need to say. When you're finished talking with the Yondaime, head towards one of the more isolated training grounds and relearn how to control your chakra. You now have twice the amount of power than before, resulting in a loss of control, most likely. The same thing for your taijutsu. The two of you have very different styles, so you need to practice whatever style you have now. Otherwise, you'll just end up tripping over you won feet.'**

'_You didn't have to tell us that. We could've figured it out on our own.'_ There was no reply from Kyuubi, who apparently left the instant he stopped talking. Narashi sighted in irritation, tying off the leg bandages before grabbing the extra roll and standing in front of the mirror in order to figure out how he want to do his 'mask.'_'I don't want it as a full face mask like how that mist-nin, Zabuza did. It'd be a pain to have to fix it every time we eat. For that matter, is the mask even necessary?'_

'Yes, it is. It wouldn't be good if everyone knew that we have the exact same whisker marks that your younger counterpart will end up having. Besides, that being said, only the whiskers need to be covered. The mouth doesn't have to be covered as well to do that.'

'_Yeah, I guess you have a point there. Though, honestly, I just think you don't like showing people your face, that's why you're insisting that we wear one.'_

After some experimentation, Narashi finally decided on looping the bandages over the brigde of his nose three times, masking his cheeks, as well as twice around his neck to make sure they didn't slip off. Satisfied with the result, Narashi grabbed his jacket from off the bed and put it one. Just as he was zipping up the collar, there was a quick knock on the door before it opened, showing that Minato was back with a female medic in tow.

Minato grinned when he saw that Narashi was up and ready. "Ah, great! Just in time. Now you just need to be checked over and then we can leave immediately."

"That's only if Narashi-san is well enough to leave, Hokage-sama," the medic said, motioning for Narashi to sit on the bed while moving forward. Minato made a slight face behind her back at the title, causing a smirk to grow on Narashi's face. "After being in a coma for two weeks, it's a bit much to expect him to be well enough to leave after just waking up. Considering that, how exactly do you feel, Narashi-san?"

Narashi smiled at the medic, eyes closed. "I feel fine. I don't feel any stiffness, and while I had a bit of a headache when I woke up, it's gone now. I doubt I'd be of much help if a fight were to suddenly break out in the village, but I can definitely walk to the Hokage's office without collapsing."

"Hmm. Well you certainly _seem_ fine," she said with a frown on her face. "Considering you condition just last night, I'm surprised just how healthy you are now."

"So does that mean I can leave?" Narashi asked hopefully. Neither of his halves liked hospitals, at all, and usually left as soon as possible, if not avoiding them completely. _Even if they don't let me out officially, I can just jump out the window and be on my merry way._

The medic sighed. "Well, there really is no real reason to keep you here. You're healthy enough. Although I'd prefer that you stay another night, for observation. You _did _just wake up from a coma after all, Narashi-san. However," she sent a small glare over her shoulder toward Minato, who grinned back sheepishly. "Hokage-sama has made it clear that he wants to speak with you in his _office _as soon as possible. So, I'll let you leave, so long as you remember to _rest_ and eat some actual food. Also, I want you to come in sometime tomorrow for another check-up. Or if you feel any dizziness or if that headache comes back, got it?"

After getting Narashi's promise that he would be careful and come in tomorrow, the medic signed the proper release forms and sent the two men on they way. Stepping out of the hospital doors, Narashi couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped him.

"Don't like hospitals?" Minato asked, chuckling, getting an emphatic "NO!" and violent head shaking in response. "Yeah, well, I don't blame you. Hospitals aren't my favorite places either.

"By the way," he continued as they started down the street. "If what you have to say can wait, do you want to get something to eat first? You haven't eaten anything solid for weeks and that medic did say you needed to start eating again soon." A loud growl, one that could give even Kyuubi's loudest a run for its money, emanated from Narashi's stomach. This immediately caused Minato to burst out in laughter while Narashi clutched his stomach, blushing a little in embarrassment. To make it even worse, some of the people in the immediate vicinity heard it and were trying (and failing) to hide their own amusement.

"Oh, shut up." Narashi said to the still laughing Hokage, even though he could feel his own laughter starting to bubble in his chest. "It's like you and the medic said, I haven't eaten anything in two weeks. Give me a break."

"Sorry." Minato said, finally getting his laughter under control. "But I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that was a 'yes,' right?" Narashi nodded. "Come on then, I know this really great place. Oh, um...you do like ramen, right?" As he said this, Minato had a look on his face that said "There's no way you couldn't" as well as "if you don't, I'll make you learn to like it." He needn't have worried, though.

"Of course I like ramen! Who doesn't? Ramen is the best. I could literally _live _off ramen if I had to."

'Which we won't, if I have anything to say about it."

'_What do you mean by that? There is no way I'm going to stop eating ramen just because _you _don't want to.'_

'That's not what I'm saying. I just meant that there needs to be something other than ramen in our diet. Kami only knows how many times I've told you that.'

'_Hmph. Whatever, so long as it's not nasty like those things you gave me a few years ago.'_

Kakashi simply sighed in response. '...You're hopeless.'

"By the way, Minato?" The man in question looked towards Narashi. "Hmm? What?" "Where are we going, anyway?"

Minato grinned. "Oh, just a ramen stand called 'Ichiraku Ramen.' Easily the best ramen in all of Fire Country, in my opinion." Narashi couldn't stop the grin growing on his face.

'_Yatta! Ichiraku Ramen!'_

This mental cheer brought another sigh from Kakashi, while thinking to himself, _Of all the people to be sent back in time and fused with, it just had to be with Konoha's number one hyperactive, Ramen King ninja, Uzumaki Naruto._Sigh. _Well, at least it's not Gai, or his mini-clone, Lee (and thank Kami for that). I don't think I'd be able to keep my sanity if that had happened._

OOOOOOOOOO

After satisfying their stomachs with about half a dozen bowls each, the two men now sat across from each other in the Hokage's office, the large, oak desk between them. Minato had already activated the seals that made it impossible for anyone but the room's occupants to hear what was being discussed. He'd already told the ANBU guards outside the door that they weren't to be disturbed unless it was either a) an emergency, or b) the visitors were his two students, Kakashi and Rin, or his wife, Kushina (the three of which he had an open door policy with unless he was in a top-secret meeting). With these security measures in place, the two were finally willing to talk.

"So, Narashi," Yondaime started, all business now. "Now that we're here, and safe from prying ears, can you answer my questions now? I've given you my side of the story, now I want to know yours. What happened to you, and how did you get there?" Narashi stayed silent for several minutes. While he wasn't physically saying a word, inside he was debating with himself again on what to say and how to say it.

'_Well, Kakashi-sensei? What are we gonna say?'_

'For now, we'll just tell him about Kyuubi's attack on the village in a year. Also, maybe a brief explanation of how we got here in the first place, at least what we know. And while it may be useless to try, we've go to keep our identities a secret for as long as possible. Again, Minato-sensei is smart enough to figure it out on his own, but the longer he doesn't know, the better.'

'_Right. Well, we might as well start somewhere.' _Narashi took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before he started.

"What I'm about to tell you, Minato, may sound completely unbelievable, but I assure you, it's all true. It is also very important that what I tell you remains between the two of us. If you _have _to tell someone, please notify me beforehand. There are very few people I'm willing to know about this. When I'm finished, I tink you'll understand why." Narashi looked toward the Hokage in front of him, face completely serious. "Can I have you word, first, that you will tell _no one_ what I'm going to say?"

Minato looked every bit the serious Hokage that he's portrayed as on the monument when he spoke. "I may have only become Hokage recently, but I don't activate the privacy seals on this room lightly, Narashi. I promise, whatever is said in this room while they're active, stays in this room."

Narashi nodded, satisfied. "Okay. It's a long story, so save any questions you have until I'm done, okay?" Getting a nod of agreement, he continued. "Well, there's no point in beating around the bush with this, so I'm just going to say it bluntly. I'm from the future. Seventeen years in the future to be exact." Seeing the suddenly dumbfounded look on Minato's face, he grinned. "I told you it would be unbelievable. But like I said, this is all true. To my knowledge, at least. And you've probably already guessed that 'Hazaki Narashi' isn't my real name. For obvious reason, I'd like to keep my actual identity a secret." _For as long as possible, at least._ "Though, I suppose in one wants to get technical, I should've said _identities_ instead."

This time, Narashi laughed slightly when he saw the confused look on Minato's face, as well as the visible effort he was making not to ask the numerous questions that were no doubt zooming through his mind. "You see, I'm actually two people in one. We were sparring in one of the training fields when we felt a sudden increase in chakra around the area, chakra that wasn't any that we recognized. We look up to see this giant ball of chakra headed straight for us. Next thing we know, I'm waking up in the hospital. I don't know how or why, but somewhere (or rather, when) between then and now, the two of us became the one you see before you." Narashi finished his brief explanation, gesturing towards himself with both hands. "Okay, you can ask some questions now. It's obvious you aren't going to be able to hold back much longer. Just try to keep them quick. There's something else I need to talk to you about but it can wait for now." Narashi leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, waiting expectantly for Minato to start.

Minato stayed silent for a moment, trying to absorb what he'd been told while wondering what questions he wanted to ask. There were so many going through his head, that it was difficult just keeping track of them all. Admittedly, a large part of him just wanted to believe that Narashi was just a Rock spy that was terrible when coming up with cover stories. But spies are only sent if they can come up with believable background explanations, with proof.

So, in an ironic twist of fate, it was the craziness of what Narashi told him that made it seem more likely that he was telling the truth. Realizing this, the part of Minato that wanted to believe otherwise started cursing whatever good that seemed to hate him and took great pleasure in making his growing migraine increase. He knew how to deal with spies, even if he didn't like to, but timetravelers were an entirely different story.

Wanting to get his mind away from that topic, Minato asked one of the first questions that had come to mind. "Okay, so let me get this straight. You came her from seventeen years in the future?" A nod. "You don't know who did this or why?" Another nod, accompanying the statement "Not a clue." "You're _two _shinobi, Konoha by the sounds of it, who were sparring before you ended up here." Once again, Narashi nodded. "But that doesn't quite explain how you looked like you just fought you're worst enemy and lost when my team and I found you. Even if you combined the injuries you might've sustained while fighting each other, I doubt it would've equaled _that_, unless you were aiming to kill each other, which I doubt. So how _did _you get so injured?"

"I'm not completely sure." Narashi answered immediately. "But I do have a theory. You know how some people consider black holes to be gateways between dimensions or the key to time travel?" Minato nodded, a spark of understanding starting to shine in his eyes as he realized where Narashi was going with this. "But this is virtually impossible to test, since anything that enters a black is almost instantly destroyed. I don't know if that's true or now, but I think that's essentially what happened; that whatever time stream I was traveling through was tearing my body apart. I can't really explain how I survived relatively intact, I'm just counting myself lucky that I did." _That's not exactly true, but I"d rather not mention Kyuubi if I don't have to._ "So, anything else you want to know? Surely that can't be all."

Minato propped his head up in his hand, staring thoughtfully at the desk surface. "I suppose, what I really want to know," he started, bringing his sapphire eyes up to meet Narahi's mismatched ones, "is why are you telling me this? Normally, one would think that you'd try to keep your presence a secret as much as possible. And yet, almost the very instant you wake up and realize what time you're in, you tell someone. Why?"

"Simple, really." Narashi replied. "I may not have had a choice in coming here, but I'm not passing up the chance to change things, hopefully for the better. There's a lot that happened over the past seventeen years that I wished I could change, but couldn't. Now I can, so I'm taking it."

"And if history only turns out worse? What then?" Minato asked softly, his voice worried.

"I can't guarantee that won't happen," Narashi answered, shrugging. "Heck, for all I know, I may be inadvertently causing the destruction of Konoha. But like they always say, you never know until you try."

Minato stared at him silently for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah, you're right." He smirked slightly. "Besides, if events go to hell like that, you'll be paying the price along side the rest of us, most likely. Well, anyway," he ignored Narashi's scoff at what he said. "What do you plan to change? I'm guessing that another reason you're telling me all this was so I could help, instead of you just changing time from the shadows. So, tell me, what are you changing and why?"

"Do you really think I'm going to tell you everything? That's practically _begging _the gods to send us all to hell by messing up the timeline. Besides, I'm focusing on one thing at a time. But now that we're on the subject, I will tell you what I'd planned on earlier. So just sit quietly and listen to me right now, cause this is very important." He ignored Minato's glare and muttered "Don't boss the Hokage around like that," and kept speaking.

"What I'm telling you now, Minato, is a major event in Konoha's history, and one of the main ones that I want to change. The main reason I'm telling you is because you play a large role in this." Narashi paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "In one year, on October tenth, the Nine-Tailed, Demon Fox is going to attack Konoha." Minato gasped, shocked, but otherwise kept silent. "No one knows why," _Yeah, and note to self, ask Kyuubi later,_ "so I can't stop the attack itself, even though I wish I could. You managed to create a jutsu just in time that would seal the Kyuubi away into a newborn child, whose chakra coils were the only ones undeveloped enough that they could grow used to the demonic chakra. However, the jutsu had a price..." Narashi swallowed hard, averting his eyes away from the Yondaime's, towards the floor. He couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence. It didn't matter though. Minato understood what wasn't said just as clearly as what had been spoken.

"I died, didn't I? The cost of the sealing jutsu is the user's life." Narashi's silence spoke more clearly than words ever could. Minato stood up, sighing, and looked out the windows behind his chair that overlooked the village. The room was silent for a few minutes, the occupants each pondering over what had been said since they entered and the implications of what they would mean for the future.

'_Should we have told him that much?'_

'I'm not really sure. But...consequences or not, the more Minato-sensei knows about the sealing jutsu, the greater chance he has creating something _better_.'

'_Yeah, you have a point there. But, considering that, should we tell him who-'_

Kakashi cut Naruto off. 'No. Not unless he asks specifically. And that won't come for at least another three or four months, hopefully longer. For that matter, it'd be best if we don't mention _you_ at all until Minato-sensei finds out himself. Besides, Kushina-neesan would hurt us if she isn't the one to break to the news to him first. Considering how she talked about his reaction to anyone and everyone for _days_ afterwards, she enjoyed it immensely. I couldn't, in good conscience, take that chance away from her.'

'_Why? How did he react exactly?' _Naruto knew that now probably wasn't the time to be talking about this, but he'd so little about his parents during his life that he jumped at the chance to hear something about them (though, he realized now that he'd technically been hearing about his father for years and just never knew). Also, he wanted to think about something else right now other than the Kyuubi's attack right now, or anything to do with it. So instead he listened to what Kakashi was telling him.

'The classic husband/lovers reaction, of course. He fainted.'

'_...You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking.'_

'I'm not.' It was obvious that Kakashi was probably grinning behind his mask, enjoying the chance to humiliate his sensei, if only indirectly. 'When she told him the good news, he fainted almost instantly. He woke up about five minutes later, wondering why he was on the floor, remembered, and fainted again. Rin and I saw the second faint with our own eyes.' Kakashi had long since started laughing at this point, with Naruto soon following once he got over the shock that his life-long idol and hero had actually fainted. This, of course, only made it more difficult to keep a straight face, and made Narashi very grateful that the man who he was silently laughing at had his back turned.

Kakashi managed to get his laughter under control long enough to continue. 'Kushina-neesan, Rin, and I got a _lot _of entertainment out of telling the rest of Konoha about it every chance we had, and I will be very upset if anything happens to keep me from experiencing it again.'

Narashi probably would've kept up his mental conversation at the "great" Yondaime Hokage's expense when he was interrupted by a loud "ACHOO!" that came from the man himself, who was turning back around now.

He instantly wiped his face of all emotion, adopting an "I'm innocent" look, nearly perfect with only the halo above his head missing. _Guess it's true what they say about sneezing when someone talks about you behind your back. _Of course, Minato instantly saw through the innocent act, eyes narrowing suspiciously. Just as he was going to say something, there was a sudden knocking on the door, which opened before either shinobi could react.

And stepping through the door were none other than a thirteen year old Takahasi Rin and Hatake Kakashi.

"Sensei!" Rin said the instant she walked in. "Kakashi and I were just at the hospital and the medics there said that-oh!" Apparently she had just noticed Narashi sitting there, who had turned statue-still when the two walked in, completely shocked.

'_Okay, I know we're in the past and I knew that we were bound to run into your younger self sooner or later; but knowing and seeing are two entirely different things! It's really weird seeing _you _looking younger than _me_!'_

'If you think it's weird now, just wait until Kushina-neesan starts showing her pregnancy in about half a year. Then you'll know how I feel right now.' Narashi was brought back to the real world by Rin, who was smiling brightly at him. "It's true. You really have woken up. That's great!"

Narashi smiled back, albeit a little shakily. "You must be Minato's students that he told me about earlier. Rin and Kakashi, right?" The two teenagers nodded. "Thank you for your help before. Probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. My name's Hazaki Narashi, by the way."

After Rin said the usual "you're welcome, we were glad to help" response, Kakashi asked, "What happened to you anyway? If you don't mind me asking, that is." Despite his relatively light, curious tone, it was still apparent that Kakashi was suffering a bad case of depression at the moment, if the pallor of his skin (or what was visible of it at least) and the bags under his visible eye were anything to go by. Rin was in a similar condition, though not as bad. Naruto probably would've said something about it, but Kakashi had quickly told him to keep his mouth shut.

"Ah, sorry Kakashi, but I don't really remember much." Narashi said in response to his question. "I was just scouting the area when I felt a sudden chakra spike to the side. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in the hospital, only to find out I've been asleep for two weeks."

Kakashi's eyebrow raised at the explanation, not believing a word of it. "Really?" He looked towards Minato questioningly, as if asking "do you really believe that?" The older man simply smiled reassuringly. A silent conversation passed between them, the contents of which Narashi didn't understand, but it apparently ended in his favor as Kakashi relaxed slightly. 'Probably realizes that the Hokage knows the full story and that it has to remain a secret.'

Minato then addressed both of his students. "We were just about to discuss what Narashi was going to do now that he's awake and out of the hospital. On that topic, could the two of you do me a favor?"

"What is it?" Rin asked.

"Could you find Kushina-chan for me and ask her if she could come here later today. There's something important I need to talk to her about that can't really wait until tonight." Narashi shot a quick look towards him, wondering what this "something important" was, only receiving a quick smile in return, reassuring him that it didn't pertain to what they had talked about.

The look wasn't lost on either of the younger ninjas, but they decided not to comment on it. Instead, Rin said, "Sure, we can tell her." She turned toward Narashi. "It's good to see you doing well, Narashi-san." He nodded to her, smiling again in thanks. "Come on, Kakashi, Kushina-neechan is probably at training ground five right now." Waving good-bye to the other two, both of them left.

Narashi released a relieved sigh. "Well that went better than I though it would. Could've done with a bit more warning though," he muttered softly to himself. Louder, he asked, "Hey, Minato, why was Rin so happy that I was ok?"

Minato frowned sadly, thinking about the answer. "During the mission where we found you, one of their teammates didn't survive. Making sure you survived was something that they could focus on, something that could got right, for once." Minato then smirked, as if he knew something that Narashi didn't. "But, then again, you probably already knew that. Right, _Kakashi_?"

* * *

A/N: Is it just me, or are my chapters getting _longer_? I'd originally planned to end this chapter a little further than this, in fact, but I was really tired finishing this last night and figured, since you guys had already waited 3 weeks for an update, that here was a good place to stop. 

IMPORTANT

I think I speak for everyone who's read chapter 367 of the manga (and if you haven't, go read it NOW) when I say "YES!! FINALLY!!" does a victory dance It's about time Kishimoto confirmed it. And we all finally have names! Yay!

EDIT: The poll I had up is now closed. The majority was in favor of the change, so I've done so. I apologize to anyone who would've preferred to keep it with Arashi.

Oh, and just to let you know, I start my senior year next week, so updates might become a little slower. I'll update at least once a month, hopefully twice, but I can't make any promises on the latter.


	5. Chakra Problems

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

A/N: Ok, so for those who don't already know, (mainly those who haven't read this since the start of the month), I've changed the Yondaime's name from Kazama Arashi to Namikaze Minato. Also, I've added a bit to Chapter 3, during Minato's pov half (mostly where he's thinking about Narashi before actually meeting him). So I recomend going back to read that little bit, if only to avoid any confusion that might come up in the future.

Now that that's out of the way, onto the chapter.

Chapter 5: Chakra Problems

Narashi stared at Minato, unable to hide his shock. He didn't try to deny it. What would be the point, when they both knew it was true.

'Dammit! I knew he'd figure it out, but I didn't think he'd do it so quickly.'

'_How did he find out, anyway? We only told him less than an hour ago. Yeah, everyone says he's a genius and all, but no one can be _that_ smart, right? So how the hell did he do it?'_

'I don't know, but I'm sure our reaction to my younger self helped him figure it out.'

Minato's smirk widened when he saw the shock on Narashi's face, which only confirmed his suspicions. "Wondering how I figured it out?" Narashi slowly nodded, surprise still covering his features, along with curiosity. "It was a combination of things. You're reaction to Kakashi and Rin's sudden appearance was just the last one I needed to prove my guess. Also, it _can't _be coincidence that you have an exact copy of the scar over Kakashi's own left eye, which is also partially the same colors as my student's eye. Same thing for your hair. But what I really convinced me was something you were wearing when we found you that I haven't mentioned yet."

Narashi raised his eyebrows, shock finally retreating with curiosity taking over. "And what would that be, exactly?" _what could I have been wearing that would make him realize half the truth?_

Minato didn't answer, instead opening one of the drawers in his desk and took something out. "This, for one," he said, holding an exact replica of Naruto's hitae-ate in his right hand, a few extra dents and scratches in the metal, most likely from Kakashi's own. "And," Minato continued, holding out his left hand, letting something drop from it to hand from a silver chain. With a jolt, Narashi recognized it in an instant. "This."

"My necklace!" he stated, surprised but happy, his hands already reaching out to grab it. Bringing it close to his face, he examined it. Like everything else, the necklace was a blend of one both Kakashi and Naruto wore. The stone the pendant was made from was the same as the necklace Tsunade gave to Naruto, whereas the design was similar to Kakashi's. It was a circular pendant, about two inches in diameter, with a detailed wolf head in the center. Between the wolf's ears was the kanji for 'wolf,' while on the back was the one for 'warrior.'

'_I didn't know you wore a necklace as well, Kakashi-sensei. It's really cool. Where'd you get it?'_

It was a few seconds before Kakashi answered. 'It was my mother's. My father carved it out of ivory and gave it to her as a wedding gift. She gave it to me.' The tone of his voice sent a clear message to Naruto to not ask for anymore details. Which he didn't plan on doing. Over the years, he had learned the Kakashi never liked talking about his past., his family and his old team in particular. Whenever the topic came p, it had usually been better to change the subject. And that's precisely what Naruto did.

'_It's probably a good thing it looks more like yours than mine, even though it helped Dad'_ (Naruto couldn't describe how odd, yet good, it felt to say that word) _'figure out about you. According to ero-sennin, there are only two necklaces like it in the world, one of which is now back with Baa-chan, and the other is with who knows where. We probably would've been in a hell of a lot of trouble if it looked like the Shodai's necklace.'_

'You're right about that, we would have. But this can cause just as many problems, especially if younger-Kakashi ever saw it.'

Narashi's brow suddenly furrowed, worried about if Kakashi had _already_ seen it. Quickly, he asked Minato if he had. He shook his head. "Don't worry. I took it off you before he could get a good look at it. I'm the only one who even knows you _have_ a necklace."

Narashi released a sigh of relief. "Why did you take it anyway?" he asked while pulling the chain over his head, before grabbing the hitae-ate and tying it in it's proper place, causing his hair to stick up to the left like Kakashi's did.

"Mainly to make sure no one else did." Minato answered, shrugging. "Also, I was curious how you had a pendant that looked exactly like Kakashi's _one-of-a-kind_ in design, but made from a _very_ rare stone which only two necklaces in the world are made from. I decided to wait until you woke up to ask you about it personally, before making any kind of investigation. My question about the design has been answered, but the stone itself still confuses me." Minato raised his eyebrows questioningly, silently asking, though honestly not expecting a complete answer. But he certainly wasn't expecting the answer he got.

"My other half won the Shodai's necklace from Tsunade-obaachan three years ago (for me) in a bet she had no chance in winning," Narashi stated nonchalantly, inwardly grinning at the expression on Minato's face. _Haha, payback._

After a moment of shocked silence, Minato asked the first two questions to come to mind. "You're still alive? And do you seriously call her _that _to her face?" Minato knew about what happened to Tsunade's brother and lover (if not in detail), as well as the belief that the necklace was cursed because of it.

He also knew that if there was one thing that Tsunade was sensitive about, it was her age. That sensitivity was bound to have grown as she got older, too. So anyone bold (or stupid) enough to call Tsunade "granny" to her face would instantly ignite her temper, and thus, her fists, and earn a one-way ticket to Earth Country's _western border. _Minato had learned _that_ lesson the hard way years ago when he called her "old lady" as a joke when he first met her. And it was _NOT _a lesson he ever wanted to repeat.

"Of course I'm still alive. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't. I don't know if the so-called curse of that necklace is true or not, but the fact that I'm wearing it after three years must mean I really am destined to become Hokage one day. Or at least," Narashi added, scratching the back of his head. "My younger half will. Don't really know about Kakashi." _That _really _is going to get confusing later on._

"Yeah, speaking of the 'other half,'" Minato started, but Narashi cut him off before he could continue. "No, I'm not going to tell you who he is, and it's best if you don't know at all. So don't try to figure it out." Minato stuck his lower lip out in a small pout, but decided not to pursue it. When it came to time, it was best to just go with what the time traveler said and leave anything _unsaid_ alone.

"Well, now you know who I am (or part of who I am). I admit, I expected you to figure it out, just not so quickly."Minato's lips twitched into a smirk at that. "Not really much I can do about that now. Besides, we need to get back to what we were talking about before your students showed up. The Kyuubi attack."

The Yondaime nodded, face devoid of any amusement. "You said that I had used a technique to seal the fox away. What can you tell me about it? Maybe knowing that, I can come up with something better." Narashi immediately started telling the Hokage everything he knew about the seal and the sealing process, while keeping any implication of _who _the Kyuubi had been sealed into out of the description.

While explaining the seal to Minato, Narashi started thinking about his other options as well. He knew there was no guarantee that the Yondaime well be able to create a better seal with less risk. Just as Kyuubi said earlier, the Shiki Fuin was really the _only_ effective method in sealing his past self. Knowing that, he realized that he needed a Plan B and to start putting it into preparation soon. With that in mind, there was really only one option he could take, one that had the least amount of risks and the most benefits. _I just hope I don't come to regret it._

Coming to a decision, he finished his explanation, adding, "That's really all I can tell you, Minato. But while you're working on the seal, I'll be doing something on my own. A 'Plan B,' of sorts. I can't tell you what it is, so please don't ask. Also, there's somthing else I need to ask you." seeing Minato's inquiring look, he continued. "There are a lot of events I plan on changing, but can't really talk about. What I need is some freedom in where I go and when. There also may be some documents that I'll need to see occasionally. Would I be able to do that?"

The Yondiame considered it carefully for a moment, knowing that it might be necessary, but also worried about some of those documents Narashi will want to see, especially since many are likely to be classified, as in "Hokage-eyes-only." he came to a decision after a couple minutes of careful thinking.

"As far as traveling goes, I have no problem with that, so long as you tell me when you're leaving, where you're going, and for how long. But it will have to depend on what the document is if you want to see it. There are some I just can't let you see. However, before you do either, we need to get you instated as an actual Leaf Shinobi, first."

_I suppose that's the best I can hope for. _Narashi nodded. "That's understandable. And if I need to be registered properly, should we get started on that now?"

It took a surprisingly short amount of time to create some identification and get him (re)registered as a shinobi. There was some confusion concerning rank, though.

"Frankly, I don't know what my rank is now." Narashi stated, shrugging. "I'm technically two different ranks. But the two of us are very different when it comes to combat, and we bother have more chakra than either of us are used to, so my taijutsu is probably a mess and my chakra control nonexistent. Hardly the qualities of a jounin."

"While that's true, you can probably fix that in a few days." Minato paused, thinking. "How about this? I'll rank you as a Tokubetsu Jounin right now, and then in a week or two, I'll evaluate you myself to see what rank you really are in this body. Sound good?"

'_Evaluate? Does he mean with a fight or something?'_

'Most likely. Survival and information gathering skills are simply just knowledge and experience, which he _knows_ that _I _have, since he's the one who taught me that stuff. But fighting ability is entirely different, so that's what he wants to see.'

'_So I'm really going to get to fight Yondaime? Awesome! And if I beat him, I really will be the greatest.'_

'You do realize that you won't to be the _only _one fighting, right?'

Naruto, however, didn't appear to hear him, instead going on about how he'll finally get to prove who's the better ninja.

'. . .'

Narashi grinned at Minato, a hint of a confident smirk at its edges. "Yeah, that sounds perfect. Just give me a couple weeks and I'll be ready." Minato grinned back just as confidently. Standing up, Narashi continued. "Well, might as well get started. If I'm going to be fighting _you_. I need all the time I can get. And I don't know about you, but I need a break from all this talk and discussion. I've said all I need to say for the time being and that's enough."

"Agreed," Minato sighed, leaning back in his chair. "By the way, which training ground are you going to be using?"

"Number eighty-three. I need some privacy while I train, and it's far enough way from the village that I can have that." _It should be, at least, since it's where I created the Rasenshuriken. Can't really get much more secluded that _that. "So if you need me, that's where I'll be."

"Alright then," Minato said, nodding in agreement. "Just make sure you come by my house by sundown. You can stay in the guest room until you can find your own apartment. Remember where it is, right?"

"Of course. And I'll be there, don't worry," he replied, turning towards the door. Just as he reached out for the handle, he stopped, before turning around slightly, a wide, happy grin on his face, eyes curved up. "It really is good to see you again, Minato-sensei. I couldn't even begin to explain in words just how much I missed you."

And before the blond Hokage could say anything in response, Narashi quickly opened the door and left. For a moment, Minato stared at the closed door. Then, releasing a giant sigh, he leaned forward until his head slammed against the desktop, taking a brief moment to deactivate the privacy seals on the room. Folding his arms around his aching head, he muttered in a groaning voice, "I knew that it was likely to be complicated, but never in a million _years_ did I think it would be _this_." His previous headache that he'd managed to ignore since meeting Narashi, had come back with a vengeance. And this time, it wasn't going away.

It was rather daunting to know that he might die in a year. And not just him. Dozens of Leaf ninjas would as well. He knew it would be impossible to prevent any deaths from happening. Narashi obviously wanted to stop as many as possible, but for now, the question of who would live and who would die would remain a mystery.

Minato had to wonder about Narashi's parting remark. Admittedly, he'd been rather surprised to realize that Kakashi was one of Narashi's identities. But that statement made him rather worried. It gave him the impression that Kakashi would have spent the next (past) seventeen years all alone. He didn't even want to consider that. But he knew it was likely, especially if Rin had also been one of the casualties of the Kyuubi's attack. After just losing Obito, the Kakashi he knew now would've completely closed himself off, at least for a while, just like he did after his father committed seppuku. He sighed, shaking his head free of those thoughts. Things couldn't happen like that. He wouldn't allow it. He'll do anything he can to make sure of it.

Needing some kind of escape from his thoughts, Minato reached down into his bottom drawer to his secret stash of sake that Sandaime had suggested he keep, _just in case._ Wondering, notfor the first time during the past few weeks, just _why_ he accepted the Hokage position.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Stepping out of the Hokage Tower, Narashi stretched his arms up towards the sky, taking a deep breath as he did so, releasing a lot of the tension that had built up whil in the office. Looking upwards at the sun, he estimated that it was probably around two or three in the afternoon now.

'_To think...it was just _this_ morning that we woke up to find out that we're in the past and ended up like this. Feels more like days than a few hours.'_

'Meh, a lot can happen in a few hours.'

Narashi let out a quick burst of air, before taking to the roof tops and heading towards the training grounds.

'_So what are we going to work on first when we get there?'_

'We should just work on some basic chakra control excercises; tree climbing, water walking, that kind of stuff. Once we have an idea of how to control our chakra, we can maybe use kage bunshin to take care of the rest. After that, we can figure out our taijustu.'

'_What about our techniques? You know, like my Rasengan and your Chidori. I definitely don't want to have to _relearn_ it _or_ its second level. And I doubt you do either.'_

'We'll deal with them afterwards. You're right, I don't want to spend time relearning those techniques either, but if that's what happens, then it happens. Let's just make sure that our techniques won't blow up in our face when we perform them.'

Arriving at the training area in the far outskirts of the village, Narashi looked around, making sure no one was in the area. _Good, _he though when he saw and sensed no one. _Time to get started then. Back to the basics it is. _He sighed, actually rather annoyed that this was even necessary. _Great..._

Deciding to do tree climbing first, he walked over to the nearest tree, which was rather tall, taking out a kunai from his hip pouch as he did so. Standing ten feet in front of the tree, Narashi formed the Ram seal, concentrating the amount of chakra he thought would be enough towards his feet, then took a running start towards the trunk.

Now, taking into account that the amount of chakra Narashi had was the combined capacity of two already powerful ninjas, resulting in a chakra store two or three times larger than either shinobi was used to, it made sense that his control would be practically obsolete. That had been what prompted Narashi to redo the exercises in the first place.

So it came as no surprise that the first run didn't turn out very well. Hell, Narashi would've been shocked speechless if he managed to make it even _halfway_ up the tree without some kind of problem. Honestly, he expected to be thrown off the tree like Sasuke had been when he tried tree climbing for the first time.

What Narashi hadn't expected was the _force._

Not five steps up the tree's trunk, Narashi felt himself lose control over his chakra. Immediately, he braced himself for the fall that seemed likely to happen soon, while at the same time trying desperately to regain control, despite the futility of the attempt. He was too low off the ground to be able to flip over and land on his feet after his inevitable loss of footing. When the large burst of chakra shot down his legs and out of the soles of his feet, Narashi wasn't just thrown off the trunk. He was _blasted _off it. The force behind it being so great the he barely had time to curl his body up in order to lessen the pain from the impact when he crashed into the ground. Even then, he continued to roll and slide along the ground stopping only when he hit the base of another tree opposite the one he chose, about fifteen meters away from it.

It didn't end there though. Trying to regain the breath that he lost when he hit the second tree, Narashi heard the loud creaking and screeching sound that only trees who've reached their limit could make. Rubbing the back of his aching head, he looked up, staring in shock at the large crack in the bark he'd created, spanning the entire circumference of the trunk. Unable to bear the weight of thirty meters of wood, the tree instantly tipped back and feel to the ground, thankfully away from him. The sound of the crash reverberated through the field, causing about a dozen birds to take to the air, twittering madly at the disturbance. Narashi didn't notice them though, only staring in shock at the felled tree.

Getting over his surprise, Narashi said the first thing that came to mind. "Holy $#!!" _Note to self, avoid doing that ever again._

'_Hey, Kakashi-sensei? Just how much chakra does it usually take to do that?' _Naruto asked nervously.

'Quite a lot, actually. What worries me though, is that it didn't _feel_ like a lot.'

'_Right...so, what now? I don't want to have to do that again.'_

'Probably do water walking instead. It would have the same results; but instead of destroying trees, the worst that'll happen is that we'll get wet and maybe stun a few fish. There are only so many trees here in the field that we could destroy though.'

It took a moment for Narashi to stand up, the hit to his head having disoriented him. Once he was standing straight without the world spinning, he wandered over to the nearby stream. _This had better work better than with the tree, otherwise, I'm screwed._

Standing near a shallow portion of the river, since he'd rather stay _mostly_ dry (cause there was no hoping to be completely dry by the end), Narashi did the same thing he did previously, but with _far less _chakra than before. He didn't know whether or not that amount will allow him to stand, actually he was hoping it wouldn't, so he could just gradually build the chakra up from there.

As he had hoped, when he stepped onto the water, the chakra was only enough to support him for a second before his feet sunk down into the ankle deep water. He sighed in relief. Thankfully nothing bad had happened that time, like causing a mini-tsunami, or something. _Now to just figure out the right amount._

It took about fifteen minutes of trial and error before Narashi was able to stay standing on the water, even while running and jumping about. Walking back to the bank, Narashi went back over to the same tree he slammed into earlier. _Let's try this again, shall we? _Hopefully _this _time won't have the same results as the last attempt.

Concentrating a small amount of chakra to his feet, Narashi started to run up the tree. This time, he made it about halfway up the trunk before his chakra burst out again, only cracking the bark around his foot this time around. Grinning at the success, he started to run up again. It only took three more tries for Narashi to be able to run up to the top and back down without a hitch. (Would've been two, but he ended up tripping over a small, broken branch coming down on the second attempt.)

'_Yosh! Success!'_

'Don't be so excited yet, Naruto. Just because we managed it without destroying any more trees, doesn't mean our control is perfect. In fact, I doubt it's any better than yours was after the Wave Mission.'

'_Still good enough to avoid exploding jutsus.' _Naruto continued before Kakashi could respond. _'So, Kakashi-sensei, what now? Form a few dozen Kage Bunshins, or go talk to the Kyuubi?'_

'Go talk to Kyuubi. No point in forming the bunshins if they're only going to be dispelled after a few minutes. But first, I want to check up on something that's been bugging me since this morning.'

'_Really, what?'_

'Whether or not we can still summon our respective animals or not. And if we can, whether they're _our_ summons, or the summons of _this _time.'

'_Oh, right! They'll definitely come in handy if we need to summon them sometime in the future. Better to find out now, when we don't really need them, than when we do, only to find out we can't.'_

'Precisely. I'm also curious to see if we can summon both dogs and toads, only one, or neither.'

With that in mind, Narashi crouched down, biting his thumb as he did so, then did the seals for the dog summoning, _(Thankfully the seals are different for each of the summonings) _gathering the amount of chakra that would hopefully only summon one of the smaller dogs, like Pakkun or someone. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" He slammed his palm into the ground. _Hope this works._ Narashi grinned as the resulting smoke cleared, revealing Pakkun the pug.

The instant Pakkun saw who had summoned him, he jumped up into a defensive position, growling. "Alright, who are you? Kakashi's the only one who can summon my kin and me, so answer me! And where's Kakashi?" Narashi held up his hands, trying to calm the pug down. "Easy there, Pakkun. It is me. Kakashi. I swear." Seeing Pakkun about to retort, he quickly added. "I promise, I'll explain everything in a minute. Just trust me for now. But first, can you answer me this one question?" Pakkun, while still obviously suspicious, nodded. "What happened the last time you were summoned?" _If he talks about finding the Akatsuki's lair, then this is our Pakkun. If he says something else, then he's the other Pakkun._

After a moment's consideration, Pakkun answered, "I was summoned to follow the Kazekage's, Sabaku no Gaara, scent in order to find where the group called 'Akatsuki' took him. Met up with Gai's team and led them there. Now will you explain what's going on?"

Narashi sighed in relief, glad that the summons were apparently _his_ summons. "In a minute, Pakkun. Just let me summon someone else really quickly." He bit his thumb again, this time going through the toad seals. When the smoke cleared to reveal Gamakichi, Narashi quickly started explaining before the small toad could react the same way the other summon did. "Yes, Gamakichi, I know you don't recognize me, but let me explain before you freak out. It's the short version, but it'll do."

With that, Narashi told the two summons who he was and what had happened to them. About how they had been sent back in time seventeen years and combined into one 'Hazaki Narashi.' He also told them about what he told the Yondaime and what he hoped to do. When he finished, both summons just stared at Narashi, completely speechless. It was Pakkun who broke out of his shock first.

"So, let me get this straight. The two of you have somehow ended up in the past before the Kyuubi attacked, fused into one body, and you intend to use the opportunity to its fullest, and change time. Possibly even killing Orochimaru and the Akatsuki before either can do any damage. Am I right?" By the sound of his voice, Pakkun apparently didn't like the idea, particularly the killing S-class ninjas part.

Narashi pretended to think for a moment. "Yep, that's pretty much it." He looked at the two summons. "The main reason I summoned you two, was simply to see if I could and to tell you what happened. Also, can you tell the rest of the summons as well? And Gamakichi, if Jiraiya-ero-sennin (our Jiraiya, not this time's) summons you or any of the other frogs, could you tell him what's going on, so no one worries in between now and the time it takes for us to get back?"

"Will do," replied Gamakichi, raising his webbed "hand" in a salute. "If that's all you needed, then I'll be going. Pop's going to want to know about this as soon as possible." The young toad immediately poofed out, shortly followed by Pakkun who had said a quick "Later. And good luck. You're going to need it."

_Well, that's taken care of now. Have to say, I'm extremely relieved to know that I can still summon them. But now, Kyuubi's turn. _Narashi leaned back against the base of the tree, letting a large burst of air to release some exhaustion and nervousness. He really wasn't looking forward to the up coming conversation, or anything that might follow. But after talking to Minato about the seal and the technique behind it, he realized that he needed to have some kind of backup plan, that could create the seal without sacrifice. He needed to prepare it _now_, not when the Kyuubi is practically on Konoha's doorstep.

And that plan came in the form of Kyuubi no Kitsune himself.

Leaning back against the trunk of the tree, Narashi closed his eyes. In an instant, Naruto and Kakashi found themselves in front of the seal, Kyuubi's large, red eyes staring down at them, a feral grin on his face.

"What's this? The two of you are here already, even though you asked for a few days just _this morning_? My, that was quick."

"Cut the act, Kyuubi," Naruto stated, scowling. "Yeah, we're here, and you know why. So stop rubbing it in that we're actually doing what _you _wanted."

"Besides," Kakashi started. "We would've had to go with your plan anyway. You knew that. We just decided not to waste our time and get started now rather than later."

_Fine, take away my fun._ Kyuubi thought, annoyed and a little disappointed. "Well, I suppose I should get started then. Just to warn you, (cause I know you're going to bitch at me later if I don't), this _is_ going to hurt. So bear with it."

Before either Kakashi or Naruto could respond to that, a red flow of chakra burst from the Kyuubi and towards the two shinobi, who had tensed when it appeared. The moment the youkai wrapped itself around them, Narashi woke up in the field, and instantly curled up, clutching his stomach in pain. When Kyuubi had said that the fusion would hurt, he meant it.

It wasn't the worst pain either nin had ever experienced. But it certainly can in a close second or third. It felt like his insides were being melted and reformed, but in different positions, in a matter of seconds, which was probably what was happening when Narashi thought about it. With his eyes closed tightly, he couldn't see what the youkai was doing to his, not that he wanted to.

After what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, the pain finally receded, leaving only a light ache. Gasping for breath, Narashi uncurled himself, laying down on the ground, wincing slightly as the grass seemed to spear into his body.

'_Kyuubi...please tell me it's not going to be like that for _every _tail.'_

'**It won't. The first tail fusion is only like that to get your body adapted to my youkai. The other eight will still hurt a bit, but not nearly as much. I'll give you more details later, when you wake up again.'**

'What do you mean by that?'

'**What I mean is that you're going to lose consciousness in about five seconds, so I hope you're comfortable.'**

Feeling himself losing awareness of his surroundings, Narashi knew the Kyuubi was right._ Damn. And I just got out of the hospital, too._ That being his last thought as he slipped into unconsciousness.


	6. More Explanations

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 6: More explanations

The sun began its descent towards the western horizon, turning the sky into a rainbow of warm colors; oranges, reds, pinks, and purples. Konoha seemed to glow with the warm light, as the vendor stands started to either pack up or turn on lanterns in preparation for the coming night. Another long day had come to an end. For some though, the day hadn't ended quite yet. Particularly for Konoha's Yondaime Hokage.

Minato walked along the village's streets, heading in the direction of the training fields. Outwardly, he appeared calm and confident, just as he should as Hokage. Greetings came at him from the villagers he passed, all of which he returned. Occasionally he would stop to chat with some that he knew better.

Despite appearances, however, Minato was anything but calm. His mind was still reeling from all that had happened since lunchtime. The alcohol had helped a little, but he knew that the pain would only be greater when the hangover came. Honestly, all Minato wanted to do at the moment was just go home, take some pain killers, and go to bed.

_Unfortunately_, he thought, internally groaning, _there's still something I need to do before I can do that. I don't know why, but I have the feeling that Narashi has either lost complete track of time and needs a reminder, or he's done something reckless and has to go the hospital again. Which would be bad, because they wouldn't let him out for another two weeks, even if he's perfectly fine. _He sighed tiredly as he jumped to the trees leading to the training grounds. _Aw, who am I kidding, I know full well why I'm worried. It's because Rin's a worry-wart, and has rubbed off on me. _

This was why he headed towards field eighty-three, instead of going straight home like he wanted to. Thinking about Narashi, and the cause of his worry, reminded Minato of the conversation he had shortly after Narashi left to go (re-)practice his chakra control.

FLASHBACK

About fifteen minutes after the time traveler(s) left, the door to his office opened once agina, with a loud, cheerful voice proclaiming, "Damn, Mina-kun, barely two weeks, and you've already taken out the sake. Job must not be all it's cracked up to be if it brought _you_ to this so fast."

The blond Hokage didn't bother looking up, knowing exactly who had entered, since he would recognize that voice and chakra signature anywhere. "Oh, shut up, Kushina. I have a very good reason today to bring out the alcohol. I swear, Sarutobi-sama _knew_ what was coming, and only retired because he didn't want to deal with it."

Kushina sat down on the edge of the desk, taking the offered sake cup that Minato had taken out when she entered. Truly the beauty of their generation, Kushina had a rather colorful style that matched her personality perfectly. The short, sleeveless top, white with orange trim along the edges, showing off her slim waist and (in Minato's opinion) adorable little belly-button. Her jounin pants, a slightly lighter blue than the navy many others preferred, were tucked into the top of her nearly knee high sandal-boots. Elbow length, fingerless gloves, the same shade as her pants, each with an orange spiral on the back on the hands, covered her arms. Hanging from her right hip, a sectioned half-skirt that went down slightly past the knee, each section fading from blue to white, then to orange. (A/N: Think of Yuna's skirt in FFX-2) Kushina's waist-long, vibrant red hair, still in a messy ponytail from her morning training, fell into her grey-blue eyes, which were twinkling in their usual teasing manner.

Kakashi, who had followed Kushina inside along with Rin, looked around, asking, "Where's Narashi-san, sensei?" The tone of his voice implied that he still held a few suspicions about the man, despite Minato's earlier reassurances.

"He went to the training grounds. After being out of commission for two weeks, he wanted to see what he could do right now," Minato answered. The other three looked at him with shocked expressions.

"By himself?" Rin asked incredulously. "He just got out of the hospital after being in a _two week coma_. And you let him go train!" Her medic side was obviously going crazy with worry, scandalized that her sensei would do such a thing.

"Surely you at least have an ANBU member, or someone, keeping an eye on him, right?" Kakashi questioned, hoping that the answer was a 'yes.'

Kushina added her own bit before Minato could answer his students. "I'm with the kids on this one, Minato. They told me what they knew of the guy. I'm all for giving people the benefit of the doubt, but sometimes, especially right after the war, it can be dangerous to immediately trust someone you just met."

Minato had patiently listened, letting them say what they wanted, before responding. "I realize that you're all thinking that I'm crazy for trusting Narashi so easily, and normally, I'd agree with you. But let me explain my reasoning before you all jump down my throat about it." The other three shinobi stared silently at him, showing their willingness to hear him out.

"Look, I know that given the circumstances right now, and Narashi's sudden appearance are rather suspicious. And given what I told you two earlier," Minato stated, pointing at Kakashi and Rin, "it's even more so. But Narashi doesn't want anyone knowing the truth at the moment. And after hearing the entire explanation, I don't blame him. And yes, he had the proof to back up his claim," he added quickly, before either of those before him could say anything. _If you can call a one-of-a-kind pendant made of an extremely rare stone proof_.

"I can understand keeping the entire truth a secret," Kakashi started, somewhat hesitantly. "But to let him wander around without some kind of surveillance after _just_ meeting him? That's where I can't understand your reasoning, sensei." Spotting the look on Minato's face, he replied to the unasked question. "I was glad to help him a few weeks ago. I just don't want to end up regretting it."

Minato nodded in understanding, before replying, "I get that, and it's good that you don't trust anything at face value. Underneath the underneath, and all that." Silently, he added to himself, _Just so long as you don't look _too_ underneath, Kakashi. 'Cause it could be very dangerous if you do._ "Despite what it may have looked like at first, I didn't trust Narashi completely until he showed me proof that he spoke the truth. Now, even though I only met _Narashi _this morning, I feel as if I've known him for years, and can trust him as such." Which was true, since Minato has known Kakashi since the boy was five years old. He could easily trust the young jounin to watch his back in any situation, in spite of the opinions that many of the village elders still held about the Hatake.

Kushina's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Seriously?" she asked. "I mean, I realize that you trust people rather easily, and can get others to do the same for you. Hell, I'd be the first one to admit that I do to, but isn't that pushing it a little? You_ did_ only just meet him. Although," she paused, somewhat guilty, "I suppose I shouldn't judge Narashi until I actually meet the guy, huh?"

"That's right, you shouldn't." He smiled at her to show that, despite the harsh sounding words, he didn't mean them as such. "And yeah, it's odd," _but then, everything about this situation exceeds anything I've ever experienced in the 'weird department,' _"and probably a little stupid, to just trust Narashi so much and so quickly, but it's the truth." He shrugged, since he essentially had nothing else to add on the subject.

"Well, whether Narashi-san is trustworthy or not," Rin sighed, looking disappointedly at her sensei and Hokage, the very same look that could make _anyone_ feel like a small child, "it doesn't change the fact that you let him go train, _alone_, after just waking up. Why?" Obviously, Rin's medical side was still reeling with worry over that small fact.

Minato grinned at her reassuringly. "Don't worry so much, Rin. It's not as if he's going to be doing a full workout. Narashi essentially assured me that he would only make sure he still held at least _some_ control over his chakra after being in a coma. Besides," Minato added with a slight shrug, "I got the impression that Narashi recovers pretty quickly, considering that he was alert and walking just this morning, despite showing few signs of life for the past couple weeks. With that in mind, I think he can handle a few hours of chakra exercises, don't you?"

The young medic-nin reluctantly nodded, but seemed unwilling to drop the subject yet. "You have a point, sensei, but couldn't he have waited until tomorrow, at least?"

Minato couldn't hold back anymore, as a laugh burst out. "Seriously Rin, you gotta stop worrying so much. You'll only get wrinkles," he told her, a teasing grin on his lips. He wasn't the only one amused, either, as Kushina and Kakashi joined him in his laughter.

"Mina-kun's right, Rin-chan," Kushina stated, snickering. "And I can tell, _no_ women wants wrinkles, especially at such a young age. But then again," she added thoughtfully, but still slightly teasing, "Rin-chan wouldn't be Rin-chan if she wasn't such a worry-wart. Wouldn't you agree, Kaka-kun?" she finished off, grinning.

Kakashi nodded seriously, "It'd be really weird if Rin changed. Can't really see her being any different. And don't call me 'Kaka-kun,' Kushina!" Kakashi added with a glare, to which Kushina only grinned wider in response.

Minato smiled, chuckling softly as he watched the person he cared for most tease his students, who might as well be family. He carefully made sure that none of the worry that had filled him showed on his face. While he couldn't imagine Rin being any different either, a part of him wished she would. His earlier fears about the coming attack, and who lived and died, had returned. He knew that there was the possibility that Rin had also been one of the casualties, and considering her profession, Minato could easily predict how. Worry over others before oneself was usually a good quality to have in a medic. But it could also be a medic's downfall; especially during big scale attacks and invasions, since there will always be more injured than there's chakra to spare.

Shaking the disconcerting thoughts from his mind, Minato turned his attention back to the other three, saying, "Look, Narashi will be fine. And if he ends up relapsing back into a coma, you have full permission to hit me for it. As I'm sure you'll want to." That got a laugh out of the medic nin, especially after Kushina added a, "And if you don't, I will!"

Shaking her head, Rin looked at him, asking, "Just answer me this, sensei; why was Narashi-san so insistant on getting his chakra control back that he couldn't wait a couple days?" Kakashi and Kushina looked at him as well, curious about his answer.

END FLASHBACK

Thinking about their reaction to his response, Minato had to laugh, albeit rather nervously. To say they weren't happy to find out the answer would be like saying that Jiraiya was just a _little _perverted. It didn't help that, when they asked 'why?', the only thing he said was, "I have my reasons, and no, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you what they are." It had taken a bet more convincing, but the three of them finally dropped the subject.

After they had left, Minato had spent the rest of the afternoon, when not cursing the "powers that be" for causing this, trying to think of a way to explain the situation to the Council, knowing that they wouldn't accept, "I know the full story, but I can't tell you it." The only reason Kushina, Kakashi, and Rin didn't pursue the issue more than they'd already done, was because they knew him well enough to know when they could get no more information out of him when he was unwilling to tell.

The council members, however, were very different. They're the kind of people who want to know every little detail about Konoha's shinobi. And if they don't have it, they'll get it. He had to admit, he felt rather nervous about the rumors of another part of ANBU, called 'ROOT.' It didn't help that one of his least favorite council members reportedly controlled ROOT; Danzou.

The first time Minato had met him, his instincts practically _screamed _at him to stay away. Even now, years after he ran into Danzou, the man still sent shivers down his spine. And his..._ideals_...didn't exactly help calm his nerves. Nor did the warning Jiraiya _and _Sarutobi gave him to be wary of him. Needless to say, Minato didn't even want to think about the possibility of Danzou, (or any of the elders, but especially him), finding out the truth about Narashi. He had no idea what they would do with the knowledge, but he doubted it would be good.

In the end, he'd decided to tell them something along the lines of Narashi being the son of two retired Leaf ninjas who had moved to another village years ago. After their deaths, Narashi had decided to travel to Konoha and become an official Leaf ninja. However, on the way, he'd been attacked by Rock Shinobi, which lead to the condition Minato's team had found him in. Then, when the Hokage heard his story, he had agreed to add Narashi to Konoha's ranks, especially since they needed more anyway after losing so many in the recent war, on the understanding that he'd have to take lower level missions until he proved his loyalty.

_I just hope that's enough for them_, he thought as he leaped from branch to branch, speeding up when he spotted field eighty-three up ahead. _I'll just have to fill Narashi in on the cover story first chance I get. That way, he won't do something to contradict it._

Jumping down to the ground as he entered the training ground, Minato looked around, trying to spot Narashi in the waning sunlight. However, the first thing his eyes focused on, wasn't the time traveler, but instead the fallen remains of, what used to be, one of the area's larger trees. Eyebrows rising to his hairline, Minato stepped forward to take a closer look at the shattered end of the tree, already having an idea asa to what happened. His suspicions were proven correct when he examined the shattered stump. Overuse of chakra. And there was only one person who could've done it.

_Maybe I should extend that training time to two weeks, instead. His control is a lot worse than I originally thought. Although, _he added somewhat nervously, _just how much chakra does Narashi have? I know he technically has the levels of two people, but it still takes a _lot _of chakra to do something like this without using an actual jutsu._

Looking around again, Minato quickly spotted Narashi, lying on the ground at the base of another tree. Quickly, he moved to the other man's side, worry and fear increasing tenfold. Only after performing a quick medical scan did Minato calm down. The only thing wrong with him was a slight case of exhaustion, nothing to bad.

_No, not exhaustion, exactly, _the blonde hokage thought, brow furrowing, _this is more like...chakra overload? It's almost as if he gathered far more chakra than his body could handle._ Which actually made sense, since Narashi _did_ have the power of two people, each of which were most likely powerful in their own right.

Seeing as there wasn't much that he could do at the moment, since all Narashi really needed was some rest, the Yondaime now faced the decision of what to do. He could either take Narashi to the hospital, as he should, or bring him home and let him rest there, only taking Narashi to the hospital if still didn't show any signs of waking up by tomorrow.

Deciding that the latter choice would be the best one, considering the circumstances, Minato put the other man onto one of his shoulders, before starting to gather the chakra needed for his signature justu. Over the years, after perfecting the Hiraishin no Jutsu, he had placed the special seal tags in specific areas of the village. More particularly the hokage tower, the hospital, his favorite training field, each of the gates, and his home, among other places. Concentrating, he could pinpoint where each seal was placed and instantly teleport there. Doing so, Minato focused on the one on the door of his house, and activated the jutsu.

Disappearing and reappearing in a golden flash on his front porch, he carried Narashi inside, closing the door behind him. Absently, he hoped that Kushina hadn't come home yet, knowing exactly how she'd react to seeing him walk in with the very man they'd been talking about earlier, slung over his shoulder, unconscious. However, his wish went unanswered as the kunoichi stepped out of the kitchen, having heard him return. Instantly, her eyebrows rose up when she noticed who was with him, but Minato cut her off before she could say anything.

"Say it, Kushina, and, love of my life or not, I'll have you on D ranks for the next year," he threatened with a glare.

Kushina huffed disappointedly, but didn't say what she had been about to. Serious or not, she knew that the Yondaime had the power to go through with that threat, (and _no _jounin wanted D ranks; sole exception being that they had a genin team to do all the actual "work"). "Fine, I won't say it, but I will ask this," she said, then pointed at Narashi. "What happened to him? And, more importantly, why bring him here and not the hospital?"

Minato sighed, readjusting the rather tall ninja on his shoulder, before heading up the stairs, gesturing for Kushina to follow. "I'm not really sure _what_ happened. I just found him like this. But I do have an idea." He explained to Kushina what he saw at the training grounds, then told her his reasoning for not taking Narashi to the hospital, as he settled Narashi in the guest bedroom.

"I don't think his condition is that serious. If he doesn't wake up by midmorning tomorrow, I'll take him then," he promised.

"You better, Mina-kun. Or I'll follow through with my earlier threat," the kunoichi stated, raising her fist. "But not before Rin-chan get her chance to pound you."

Minato chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head, glancing down at Narashi briefly. _You better wake up, Narashi. Rin hits really hard when she wants to, but Kushina hits _harder. Then he sniffed, an odd smell in the air. "Hey, is something burning?"

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, especially those who've reviewed nearly every chapter. And I'm so sorry this came out late. I hit a bit of a roadblock while writing it (the flashback is what killed me.) School hasn't helped. This may be my easiest year yet, as far as my schedule goes (it's full, but they're easy classes), but I'm also looking for a college to go to next year, so that takes up a part of my free time.

I didn't originally plan to end the chapter here. But you guys have waited long enough, so here was good enough. Besides, I've learned that original plans mean _nothing_ to me, apparently. In the outline for this story I wrote around chapter 2, the kyuubi would've attacked and been defeated by the end of chapter 6. Hehehehe...well, here we are, at chapter 6, with day _ONE _just now ending. ; On that note, this will most likely be over 20 chapters, maybe even 30. And if it isn't I'll be very shocked.


	7. The First Tail

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me, but instead to Masashi Kishimoto, who seriously needs to forget about Sasuke for a while, and get back to the Konoha group, who have been practically ignored for about 10 chapters it seems.

Key (Quote marks ARE important):

_'Naruto speaking'_

'Kakashi speaking'

**'Kyuubi speaking' **

_thoughts_

* * *

Chapter 7: The First Tail

The next morning, as the sun rose to bring Konoha into another day, Narashi once again woke up to a pounding headache. And it wasn't just his head, either. His entire body felt as if thousands of needles were pricking him. To top it all off, his nose burned with the multitude of smells invading it, not all of them pleasant.

Groaning, Narashi sat up, holding his head, as well as blocking his eyes from the sun. About to open them to see where he was, the voice of Kyuubi suddenly broke through his mind, stopping him.

'**I wouldn't open you eyes just yet. The first tail that you merged with yesterday increased your five senses exponentially. If you opened them now, you'd probably be half blinded by the sunlight.'**

'_...Thanks for the warning.'_

'I hope you know how to decrease that, because I doubt there are sunglasses in easy reach. And it'd be a little hard to walk around with very little idea of where we are.'

'**Just focus on having lesser eyesight. It shouldn't be too hard.'** Kyuubi said this as if he expected a toddler to be able to do it.

Ignoring the insult that he _knew_ the Kyuubi had put in that statement, Narashi did as instructed, feeling the chakra drain from his eyes. Once he felt that he wouldn't be blinded when he opened his eyes, he stopped and opened them, looking around at the simple bedroom he found himself in. It looked just like any other bedroom. There was the single bed that he was in, a chest of drawers, and a closet, as well as a desk in the corner. There was also a square mirror above the dresser.

'_Hey, where are we?'_

'The spare bedroom at sensei's house,' Kakashi answered instantly. 'He probably went looking for us last night, and found us unconscious in the training field. Though why he brought us here and not back to the hospital, I'm not sure.'

'_...You figured that out pretty fast...'_ Naruto found himself wondering, not for the first time, how Kakashi just seemed to know _everything_, even though he didn't have much more information than Naruto did half the time.

Narashi swung his legs off the bed, fixing the bandages still on his face as he did so, while Kakashi answered Naruto.

'Easy. For a few years after my father died, this was my room while I lived here with Minato-sensei. So of course I'd recognize it.'

'_Eh! Really!'_

'Yes. Up until a few months ago, when I got my own apartment, this is where I lived.'

Naruto wanted to ask more, but decided against it, knowing that there were more important things to focus on. Like what exactly the Kyuubi had done to them while fusing his chakra to theirs.

Narashi looked at his hands, quickly noticing that his nails had turned into sharp claws. Oddly enough though, they didn't cut into his palm when he clenched them into a fist, even though they could obviously do a lot of damage. Running his tongue over his teeth, Narashi could feel that his canines had also grown longer and sharper, probably even to the point of sticking out over his lower lip.

Wanting to get a better look in the mirror, he stood up, immediately noticing a difference in his balance. Already having an idea as to the cause, he looked over his shoulder, confirming his suspicions.

Sticking out of the back of his pants, was a long fox tail, a golden replica of one of Kyuubi's own, with a silver tip.

While it was expected, Narashi had hoped that the tail wouldn't be there, despite Kyuubi telling him that it would be. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind that instantly made him extremely worried. Before his could voice it though, Kyuubi responded to the unasked question.

'**Don't worry about anyone having seen you. The instant the transformation was complete, I implemented the illusion that hides your true form. No one, except for those you want to, can see it.'** Narashi sighed, relieved that Minato hadn't found out. This was _not _something that he wanted the Yondaime to know about just yet. **'And why are you so worried about having a tail anyway? That's possibly one of the more useful tools in your arsenal that I'm going to give you. It's practically a third arm or leg. Just imagine the possibilities. They're endless.'**

'_Yeah, yeah, we get the point. A tail's useful to have.'_

Ignoring anything else that Kyuubi had to say, Narashi walked over to the mirror, quickly noticing the second foxy addition the Fox had made. Sticking out of the side of his head, where his normal ears used to be located were a pair of fox ears, also gold and silver like his tail. He turned his head slightly to look closer at them, twitching them up, down, and side-to-side, and bringing his hands up to feel them. They were surprisingly soft, and, though he would _never_ admit it, it felt rather good when his fingers ran over the back of them.

After examining the new additions for a moment, Narashi had only one conclusion to make. _Well, at least they aren't the bunny ears that I though I might end up with._

Narashi barely managed to keep himself from laughing out loud, despite how much he wanted to, and only because of the years of experience Kakashi had at hiding his emotions. Even then, he had no qualms about laughing loudly in his mind at the shocked rage and humiliation he could feel _flowing_ out of Kyuubi.

'**BUNNY EARS!'** Kyuubi roared, furious. **'Grrrr! I'll have you know that my ears are a great sign of respect and stature, just as much as my tails, among the kitsunes. They most certainly are NOT **_**bunny ears!'**_

'You're ears are bigger than your head, Kyuubi,' Kakashi stated, chuckling. 'Face it; they're bunny ears.' Kyuubi merely growled loudly in response, only making Narashi laugh louder in his mind.

Ignoring Kyuubi's angry insults at him, Narashi looked back into the mirror to examine any other differences. His canines were definitely longer, as they _did_ stick out past his lower lip, by quite about a half-inch to an inch. His pupils were so thin that he could barely see them in the middle of his irises, both of which had more red to them. The left was completely red now, and the right had a slightly purple hue to it. Pushing his face bandages aside a little, he could see that his whisker marks were thicker, much like they were when Naruto used the Kyuubi's Cloak.

His senses, as noted previously, were a _lot_ stronger than before. His ears could pick up the faint sounds of the early risers down in the street, as well as downstairs as the other inhabitants of the house got up and ready for the day. He was sure that if he concentrated, he'd be able to hear exactly what was being spoken. His sense of touch had also been increased, to the point where he could feel every individual hear on his head and ears.

At that moment, Narashi's new ears picked up the sound of someone stopping just outside his door. He turned around just as the door opened, admitting Minato, already wearing his hokage robe, his hair still a little wet from his shower. Minato grinned when he saw that Narashi was awake and standing.

"You're awake," he said, grinning widely. "You had me worried when I found you unconscious at the training field. Good to know it wasn't as serious as it could've."

Narashi smiled back, relieved that Minato apparently _hadn't _seen his new form. "Sorry about worrying you, Minato. Guess I kinda over-extended myself after a couple weeks of no activity," he said, chuckling sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Apparently. Try not to do it again." Minato added a glare to the last part, the tone of his voice one that Kakashi recognized instantly. He responded automatically, a reaction brought on by years of experience with the man, despite the many years it's been.

"Yes, sensei," Narashi said, bowing his head and adverting his eyes, causing Minato to chuckle, thinking, _Some habits just never change, no matter how long it's been._

'_There's no arguing with that tone, is there?'_

'No, there isn't. I learned that lesson years ago.'

'_That doesn't surprise me. But, it does answer a question that's been bugging me for a while.'_

'Really, what?'

'_Where you got the scary voice from. I'm serious, you had us all terrified every time you used that voice. Every time you used it, we knew it meant _pain_!' _Naruto actually started panicking a little, remembering all the times Kakashi had used the 'scary voice' on Team 7.

The masked ninja chuckled evilly. 'Heheheh. My goal as a sensei has been accomplished.' He too could remember all the times he had terrified his three students while teaching them, and enjoyed every minute of it.

Naruto grew irritated as he felt Kakashi's amusement. _'Sadistic bastard sensei,'_ he muttered, scowl evident in his voice.

Kakashi only laughed harder at that. 'All senseis are sadistic in some way, Naruto. If and when you become a sensei yourself, you will understand.'

Before Naruto could reply, Minato suddenly snapped his fingers in front of Narashi's eyes, looking concernedly at him. Narashi jumped, blinking from the unexpected sound and image.

"You okay, Narashi?" Minato asked, concerned and a little worried. "You kinda spaced out for a minute there. You did that a few times yesterday, as well."

Narashi blinked again, before chuckling and rubbing the back of his head again, embarrassed. "Sorry about that. Just talking to myself. Still need to work on that a little." _Definitely need to work on it, cause if I space out again during a fight or something, I'm dead._

Normally, having someone say 'just talking to myself' would be a cause for concern. But considering who Narashi was, Minato didn't worry too much about it. While Narashi may be a single body and power, he's still two people, two separate minds. So it made sense that they would communicate with each other. The thought brought up an interesting question though, one that Minato just had to ask.

"Hey, Narashi? That makes sense, but I gotta ask; who's in more control? It would be problematic if one part of you wanted to do one thing, but the other half wanted to do another, don't you think?"

'_...'_

'...'

'**...The blond insect brings up a good point. Who **_**is **_**in more control? Cause it definitely isn't me.'**

Narashi had no clue how to answer that question. It hadn't really been much of a problem, since all he'd done since waking up yesterday was walk around and talk, with some chakra control training in the afternoon. But both sides of him had been in agreement on what to do then. However, like his spacing out when he was talking to himself, having a difference of opinion on what to do could get him killed. _That's something else I need to figure out._

Seeing Narashi's shocked and clueless expression, Minato said, "You haven't a clue how it works out, do you?"

"Not a bit," Narashi admitted, grinning sheepishly. "Just something else I need to figure out later."

"Yeah, well let me know when you find out. I just know that the question is going to be burning in my mind, and won't leave me alone until I know," Minato said, before adding, "Oh, by the way, how did yesterday's training go? When I went to the grounds and found you, I saw what happened to that tree..."

Narashi winced slightly, remembering how he had brought down one of the huge trees at field 83 on his first attempt at tree climbing. "It went ok. I can at least use my chakra again without having it explode in my face. What happened to that tree was my first try. It got better afterwards.

"By the way, Minato," Narashi continued, moving towards the door, "why did you bring me here to your place after you found me? Why not take the logical choice and take me back to the hospital?"

Following Narashi out into the hall, the other man raised an eyebrow at him. "Would you have preferred if I had taken you back to the hospital?" Narashi shook his head rapidly. "Well, there's your answer. You would've just escaped anyway, if you're anything like the Kakashi I know, which would've been problematic for me. Less troublesome to just bring you here, especially since I thought you'd wake up soon anyway."

"And what did Kushina think of that?" Narashi asked, grinning. He could easily guess how she might have reacted to his presence.

"She got irritated, but made me swear that if you didn't wake up, she'd force me to take you to the hospital. On more hour and that's where you would've woken up. Speaking of Kushina, she's cooking breakfast right now, so I hope you're hungry. Despite nearly burning the house down last night, she's a really good cook." Minato added, stepping into the kitchen, only to be met by a wooden spoon to the forehead. "OW!"

"I heard that, you know," Kushina said angrily, glaring at the shinobi rubbing his forehead. She stood in front of the stove, hand on her hip and long red hair hanging loose down her back. (A/N: I've changed the length of her hair from short-shoulder-length to waist-long to match canon. But _just_ the length. Everything else will remain the same.) "And it's your fault that dinner was burned in the first place. So don't go placing the blame on me." Kushina huffed in irritation, before turning to Narashi, who had started laughing the instant the spoon bounced off Minato's head. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. My name's Kushina, this idiot's wife, though Kami only knows how and why. Just as a warning; call me by any other name or nickname and I will hurt you," she said, holding out her hand and smiling.

Still chuckling, Narashi shook her hand, saying, "Duly noted, Kushina-chan. I'm Hazaki Narashi, though you probably already knew that."

Kushina grinned, "True, but it's always good to be introduced properly." She turned back to the stove, grabbing another spoon from the drawer. "Take a seat; breakfast will be ready soon. Although I'm tempted to burn Minato's portion as further punishment for his earlier comment," she added with another glare toward said man.

Narashi laughed again as Minato shouted "No, please don't!" pleadingly. Kushina smirked, knowing that she wouldn't waste good food just for one teasing comment. She spared a few glances out of the corner of her eye towards Narashi every so often though. _Minato was right. I've only know him for a couple of minutes, yet I already feel like I've known him for years. There's just something about him that I can't help but like already. I don't know what it is though. Oh well; time will tell who he really is. I just have to be patient. _Kushina mentally groaned. _One of the last things I can be. Damn._

Breakfast was spent pleasantly, with some light chit-chat between Minato and Kushina, with Narashi adding his input occasionally, or when he was spoken to directly. For the most part, though, he just stayed quiet, content in the presence of two precious people to him; two who one half of him had lost over sixteen years ago, and the other half had never known at all, but should've.

Narashi's eyes narrowed slightly, though the other two didn't notice, remembering future events to come. The first time around, these two people, along with many others, had died, long before their time. _But this time, things will be different. I'll make sure of it; that's a promise. _

_And I don't ever go back on my word. _

* * *

_A/N: _Ducks behind wall as rotten fruit, knives, and various other projectiles are thrown. I'm so, so sorry that this chapter took over 4 months to update! I've just been really busy these past few months, ranging from a state art competition to college preparations to semester finals. The killer though was English class taking all my available creativity with 5-8 page stories every few weeks.

But all of that is done now, and I can get back into the flow of writing Second Chances with regular updates (or semi-regular :sweatdrop: ). I know some of you were probably wondering if I had discontinued this fic, so I will say this right now. This fic WILL get finished. I'm not even going to start _writing_ a second one (excluding one-shots) until this is done. It's just going to take a while...that's all...


	8. Matters of Trust

Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me, or anybody, other than Masashi Kishimoto.

**A/N: PLEASE READ!** A bit of warning for those who are really picky about this sort of thing; there's a part here where younger-Kakashi is beingkinda ooc.Admittedly, I'm a little nervous about how everyone will react to it. But at the same time, I honestlydon't think I can, nor want to, change it, since it's the pretty much the main point of this entire chapter. I explained the reason behind it the best I could, and I'm happy with it, (and I went over thischapter twice)but it doesn't change that I've been nervous aboutit all day while at school, since I'mone of those people that usually _dislikes_ ooc.

I just felt like I needed to say that before you all started reading this. Just know that it's not likely that it'll happen again in this fic. It's just one of those times where the chapter content just suddenly jumps out of nowhere (which it did immediately after updating the last chapter)and demands to be written immediately, exactly as it wants to be. 

Now on with the story.

Key (Quote marks ARE important):

_'Naruto speaking'_

'Kakashi speaking'

**'Kyuubi speaking' **

_thoughts_

* * *

Chapter 8: Matters of Trust

Narashi walked the familiar path to the memorial stone, knowing who he would find there even before he arrived. It had been a little over a week since he'd first woken up in the past. But this would be the first time he'd go to the memorial since. There was something he needed to do, especially if he intended on keeping his promise to himself.

Thinking on the past week, it hadn't taken Narashi long to get into a routine. He had already been moved into his own apartment, paid for by the Hokage (similar to how Naruto's apartment had been paid for before he started earning his own money; not by the Hokage himself, but by an account of sorts set aside for similar situations) until he could go on missions himself, which won't be until after his fight with Minato at the end of the week. It was small, only big enough for a single person, with only a main room, a bedroom, a small kitchen, and a washer and dryer hidden behind closet doors within the small bathroom. Cheap and simple, but enough for him. 

The council of elders hadn't been happy _at all_ that the Yondaime had instantly allowed Narashi to become a shinobi, especially since his past was still a mystery to the general public, but had accepted Minato's reasoning. That hadn't stopped them from ordering one of the ANBU from following him around for a few days. Not that it helped them much. Narashi, with his new, stronger senses and elite jounin/ex-ANBU skills, had immediately known that he was being followed; so he made sure that all he did while being watched, aside from eat and sleep, was train his chakra control and getting back in shape after being inactive for two weeks. The only thing the ANBU could conclude was that Narashi had a _gigantic _amount of chakra, but very little control to go with it. The council had relented afterwards, on the condition that he'd be on lower ranked missions, _always_ accompanied by another ninja of high-chuunin rank or higher, until his loyalty was proven. Knowing that they were still paranoid from the war, Narashi didn't really care that much, so long as they left him alone to train and didn't interfere with his main, self-imposed mission. 

As far as his training had gone, Narashi's control had continued growing after that first day. It was now slightly better than Naruto's own control after returning from his two-year absence. As a result, his ninjutsus had also gotten better. He had decided to stick with basic jutsus for now, avoiding the more personal justsus, like rasengan and raikiri, at least for a few more weeks. 

His taijutsu also got better, at least compared to the first day he'd started. Narashi grimaced, remembering the complete disaster _that _afternoon had been. 

FLASHBACK

It was his second day in the past, and Narashi was once again standing in training field eighty-three. He had already created twenty kage bunshins, setting half to work on control and the other half to use that control to figure out which jutsus he could use at the moment without blowing up the entire area (aside from the one that created them). He'd already had to replace the latter set once, after an out of control 'water dragon jutsu' that a reckless clone instantly attempted destroyed most of them. It gave an important lesson for all that remained; weak jutsus _first_, powerful ones _later_.

Narashi himself now stood apart from the rest of his clones, having decided that he would work mostly on his taijutsu, as well as his new kitsune abilities that he had gained. Jutsus and chakra control were all well and good, but as Rock Lee proves every day with every fight, taijutsu is just as important, if not more so.

Another clone stood opposite of Narashi in the small area that he had decided to use. The Kage Bunshin would only be using basic taijutsu taught at the academy, staying completely away from either Naruto's or Kakashi's own personal styles. It wouldn't be very helpful for Narashi find out the real weaknesses of whatever taijutsu he had now if his clone did the same thing.

Once the fight started, Narashi quickly realized that he _had_ no taijutsu form. When he had told Minato earlier that the taijutsu both sides of him used were very different, he had meant it. 

When Naruto fought, he usually just charged right into a fight, throwing punches and kicks all over the place, and battle yells at every breath. With the fast healing that Kyuubi provided, he rarely bothered to actually dodge attacks from his opponent, (unless they would be instantly fatal), taking them, then jumping right back up and returning it tenfold. Add in a few kage bunshins and you have a literal maelstrom of never-ending attacks.

Kakashi, on the other hand, had a more methodical and smoother approach than his former student. Not having Naruto's healing ability, Kakashi almost always dodged or blocked attacks, depending on the situation. Using his leaner build and faster speed to his advantage, Kakashi would either tire his opponent out or make them angry, making it more likely that they'd make a mistake, at which point, he'd go in for the kill. Much like what had happened during Naruto's first bell test. Naruto had gotten irritated and frustrated that Kakashi kept dodging, which allowed him to get behind the younger ninja and perform 'Thousand Years of Pain.' Reading porn while fighting usually increased and speed up the irritation effect. 

But despite the differences, Narashi had expected that, like with his appearance and chakra, the two taijutsu forms would just meld together and he'd have _something_. Apparently, nothing of the sort had happened.

When KB-Narashi took the first charge, coming in with a right punch aimed to the head, Narashi suddenly became torn on how to react. Half of him wanted to duck around the punch and get behind the clone, and get it in that blind spot. His other half wanted to just hit the clone head on before it could strike _him_. 

The combination of the two different urges resulted in Narashi attempting both at the same time. When KB-Narashi got close enough, Narashi had ducked down below the punch, while throwing a rather clumsy punch for KB-Narashi's abdomen, which it easily dodged. The punch had over thrown Narashi's balance though, causing him to practically trip over his own feet from his semi-crouched position. Only the shinobi pride and reflexes that both ninja had, saved Narashi from a humiliating sprawl in the dirt. 

He quickly pushed off the ground with his hands, landing on his feet after a quick front flip. He stood facing the KB-Narashi, who looked at him with eyebrow raised, silently asking 'What the hell was _that_?' Responding with nothing more than a scowl, Narashi took the first action this time, rushing straight at the clone. 

After a few more rounds of Narashi's clumsy 'fighting' and KB-Narashi calmly avoiding all attacks as well as throwing his own, the bunshin had had enough. Stepping back, his face a mask of incredulity, it asked, "Are you even trying? This is absolutely ridiculous for Konoha's Copy Ninja and Jiraiya's two-year apprentice."

The clone never saw the tail that wacked it in the head, making it disappear with a 'poof'. Gaining the memories of his clone, Narashi nearly growled in irritation as he collapsed onto his back, knowing that it had been right, and extremely thankful that no one else had been nearby to see that display.

END FLASHBACK 

After that first 'fight,' Narashi had foregone the use a clone sparring partner, at least until he actually had something that could be called taijutsu, and not something that would send Gai and Lee into real tears of despair. It hadn't taken him long to decide that he needed to start straight from scratch. It was pointless to try and depend on his jumbled instincts and the near-nonexistent muscle memory that this body had. 

Narashi had thus spent much of his time during the past week putting together a style that both personalities would be able to use without conflicting with each other; a combination of their own styles, with quite a bit thrown in from the multiple ones that Kakashi had copied over the years. It certainly wasn't perfect, and still needed a _lot _of working on, but at least he could fight well enough that he wasn't a laughing stock amongst ninjas. Using Naruto's tactic of spamming on the shadow clones would definitely help. Having a tail didn't hurt either. Narashi had made sure to incorporate that, as well as his claws and higher senses, into the taijutsu he was creating. It'd be a waste if he didn't use them, a fact that Kyuubi repeatedly reminded him of.

Narashi forced himself out of his thoughts as he stepped into the clearing that held the memorial stone. There he found the person he had been looking for, exactly where he expected him to be. 

Standing in front of the memorial, straight backed with arms at his sides and hands clenched tightly. Both eyes stared at a single name, his headband held in one of his fists. Silver hair flopped over the left eye, covering the still healing cut. 

Kakashi.

'Naruto?' Kakashi quietly asked the other ninja.

Naruto replied gruffly, though not unkindly. _'Yeah, I know. I'm just going to go bug Kyuubi. I'll leave you two alone.'_

While trying to figure out a solution to their control problem on Day Three, they had discovered that one of them could essentially 'join' Kyuubi behind the seal (or at least the general area of what remained of it), giving the other complete control. It was essentially the same thing they needed to do to talk to Kyuubi face-to-face. The other would still know everything that happened, but they wouldn't be able to interfere in any actions or communicate unless they left the seal. Which they could do anytime, but wouldn't unless needed, as the two had agreed on. When the two of them had figured out how to do this, they had come to an decision that only in special situations would they use it. Situations like now.

With his promise, his vow, in mind, Narashi was going to change anything that he could. And first on his list (since the Kyuubi wasn't coming for another year) was his younger self.

Kakashi freely admitted that one of his largest weaknesses would be the constant guilt and sadness he felt at the loss of his father and first team. There were days when the feeling lessened, times when they increased to unbearable levels. But they were always there and always would be. It was this sense of guilt that lead him to the memorial every day that he was not on a mission, spending hours at a time, and sometimes even an entire day if he had nothing else to do, in front of the polished stone. Half the reason he was late all the time was because he lost track of time here. 

However, he knew that it got to the point where he neglected his own training, especially during those first few months. In the original time line, it had been Jiraiya who had knocked some sense back into him, literally. But that had been over three months, nearly four, after _that_ mission; four months of little to no physical activity outside of missions, wallowing in his guilt while constantly beating himself up about it, and he ended up paying for it. Still did sometimes, cause he always figured that if he had actually done something those four months, maybe he would've mastered a technique sooner, especially when he needed one that he couldn't perform.

Which was why Narashi now stood in the memorial clearing. He couldn't just stand by and let his younger self drift in a guilt-filled depression for four months. Not when he remembered how that had been. So he'd decided to be the one to knock the sense back into him, instead of waiting for Jiraiya to finally decide to do it. Just with a slightly different method that what the perverted Sannin had used. 

Knowing that the young jounin had sensed his presence long before he entered the field, Narashi didn't bother with any greetings. Instead he walked up and stood next to Kakashi, staring alongside him at the names on the stone that he knew so well, and had practically memorized their positions; slightly happy to see fewer, of course, though its newest addition still stung sharply. Perhaps more so, for it being so recent once again.

The two stood there, neither speaking nor acknowledging the other for a long time. Surprisingly though, it was Kakashi who finally broke the long silence between them.

"Why are you here, Narashi-san?" he asked, voice betraying none of the emotions that Narashi knew he felt.

"Does one need a reason to visit the heroes of Konoha?" Narashi answered, still staring down at the stone. Kakashi couldn't think of any response to that, so he didn't reply. Once again, silence grew between them. This time, Narashi became the one who broke it.

"I wanted to talk to you about something, Kakashi. Have been for a while now." He turned toward the younger ninja next to him, waiting to see his response. He didn't need to wait long.

"What if I don't want to talk?" Kakashi said, a bit of irritation entering his voice. 

Narashi chuckled slightly. "Then don't. But I do need you to at least listen to me. Whether or not you want to talk as well is up to you. I won't force you."

All that met him was silence, but he knew that was all the response he would get. Kakashi would listen, but whether he would like it or take any advice is another matter entirely.

Taking Kakashi's silence, as well as the fact that he hadn't walked off yet as all the permission that he needed, Narashi started talking, while hoping that he wasn't making a huge mistake. He had thought long and hard on what he would say and only hoped that Kakashi wouldn't realise the truth from what he says. "You probably won't believe me, but I do know how you're feeling, Kakashi."

"And what would a stranger like you know about how I'm feeling?" Kakashi snapped, cutting him off before he could continue. His irritation had quickly turned to anger. Turning his gaze from Obito's name, Kakashi glared at Narashi, who met his glare evenly, his own expression revealing nothing but empathy. Which only made Kakashi angrier, interpreting the gaze as pity, which he absolutely _despised_. Especially now.

"I know plenty," Narashi stated calmly, still hoping that he was doing the right thing. "You're feeling sad, guilty, and confused. Angry and ashamed as well. Sad for the friend that you lost. Guilty because he died to save your life. Confused by your beliefs being turned upside down, changing your views on everyone and everything around you. You're also having some doubts that you did the right thing by accepting Obito's sharingan. Ashamed because you think that you disappointed everyone, especially Minato.

"And you're angry at everything. Angry at the Uchihas for calling you a thief. Angry at the war for putting your team in that situation. At the Hokage for giving you the mission. At the Iwa ninjas for being the enemy. Angry at the villagers for still talking about it.

"But most of all, you're angry at yourself. Angry that you were too weak to protect your team, that you couldn't save Obito. You're blaming yourself for everything that happened that day. If you had just been stronger, wiser, more experienced. Maybe then Rin wouldn't have gotten captured; you wouldn't have lost your eye; Obito would still be alive.

"Isn't that what you're feeling right now, Kakashi?"

Kakashi wanted desperately to deny everything that the older man had said. To yell at him to mind his own business, that he didn't know anything. Anything at all about how he felt. To look away or storm off without a single word. Anything to get away from that unnerving stare. That infuriating stare that held so much calm empathy that shouted out to Kakashi that, yes, Narashi _did_ know _exactly _how he felt, had felt for the past few weeks.

But he couldn't. No matter how much his mind commanded him to move, his body refused to obey, staying rooted where he was, mismatched eyes staring up into Narashi's own mismatched pair. Dimly, Kakashi took note of the similarity between their eyes. Both were blood red in the left, while dark in the right. Even the scar over the left eye was similar. Kakashi didn't really think much on it, though. Slashes across the eyes was a rather common occurrence in the ninja world, and bi-colored eyes, while a rarity, weren't impossible. He put aside the thought though, deeming it as unimportant at the moment.

Only years later would Kakashi start to wonder about that similarity once again, and what the meaning behind it could be.

Kakashi honestly didn't know what to think of Narashi. When his team had first found him, lying half-dead on the ground, his only thought had been to keep someone else from dying when he could do something to stop it. Only after returning to the village and learning of Narashi's stable condition, did Kakashi's shinobi training kick in, pointing out that Narashi could be a spy from another village.

While he might not know every ninja in the village personally, as a jounin, Kakashi made a point to at least know the names and faces of most of them, as well as the main ones from the other ninja villages. So to not be able to recognize even the name 'Hazaki' made Kakashi's shinobi instincts go haywire. True, this couldn't really be applied to Narashi himself, but there would've been some record of any family that might've lived here, as he claimed. So surely, Narashi couldn't be anything other than a spy from another village, probably even Iwa. The speed that he gained the Hokage's trust with and gained the (temporary) rank of Tokubetsu Jounin seemed to support this. 

That was what his mind told him at least. 

But what his heart said, a piece of himself that he'd locked away years ago, only to be broken out by Obito's words and actions, was completely different.

From the very moment that he had officially met him in the Hokage's office, Kakashi had instantly trusted Narashi, with every fiber of his being. He didn't show it, but he did. And that unnerved him, because he did _not_ trust easily. One of the more important rules of shinobi was to never take things at face value after all; always look underneath the underneath and all that. He followed that particular rule almost instinctively, not even thinking about it.

Kakashi could count on one hand the number of people he trusted completely, and it had taken each of them _months_ to gain that amount of trust. True, he couldn't exactly remember meeting Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the Sandaime, as he'd known them his whole life. But he had heard about it (Jiraiya for one, took particular pleasure in telling his team baby stories), and he had apparently been one that instantly disliked strangers.

Yet here was someone who had gained his trust in_ seconds_. Kakashi couldn't explain how or why it had happened, just that it did. There was just something about Narashi that made Kakashi feel like he'd known him his entire life. Longer, in fact. The feeling, if he could compare it to something, would be what he imagined having a twin would feel like. 

Maybe it was this sense of trust that made him do what he did next, something he never would've done normally. Maybe it had been the words that Narashi had used, and the truth behind them that made him finally snap. Maybe it was a combination of things. Kakashi didn't know, and probably never would, though he would certainly wonder what brought him to do it.

All he knew was that one moment, he stood staring at Narashi when he suddenly felt something inside him just give way and completely shatter. The next moment, he was leaning his forehead against Narashi's chest, his body almost completely limp, arms hanging at his sides. And while he tried with everything he had to cling onto shinobi rule twenty-five, nothing could've stopped the tears, which came slowly at first, then started becoming more frequent until he was quietly sobbing into Narashi's jacket. It was as if the dam that Kakashi had built up six years ago after his father's death, which had cracked at seeing Obito trapped under that boulder, could no longer hold back the flood and had collapsed. 

The instant that Kakashi's head hit his chest, shoulders shaking, Narashi had tensed, hardly able to believe what was happening. Out of all the reactions he had expected, this was the last. Kakashi had never been one to show his emotions around others, certainly not those he'd only known for a for a week. And any tears he had shed had always been either in his room, curtains closed, at night, or in the rain while standing in front of the memorial. If anyone saw him cry, it had always been by accident. 

There would be no point denying that there had been tears. For they _had _come. They always did, for every shinobi, with the only exceptions to the rule being the truly insane ones; those that _revelled _in the death they caused. Even then, some, like Zabuza, still allowed that dam to break at the very end. The life of a shinobi was a hard one, and many who survived for more than ten years usually ended up emotionally breaking at least once in their career. The older and more experienced ninja usually snapped more than once. Joining ANBU practically guaranteed it. Some showed their tears frequently and openly, unable to dam them at the appropriate times. Others, like Kakashi, held back the flood for as long as possible. The only unspoken rule was to _never_ do so in battle, cause to break would be signing your death warrent.

Narashi didn't know what to be more surprised about at the moment; Kakashi's open reaction to someone he barely knew, or that the flood he knew he had held back had come sooner than before. In the previous time line, the reservoir that Kakashi had formed after his father's suicide, and extended after Obito's death, hadn't truly collapsed until after the Kyuubi attack, when he lost not just Minato, but Rin and Kushina as well. The shock of losing three people in one night had been too much for the battered dam to hold. Then again, as far as Narashi was concerned, those last three deaths weren't going to happen, so perhaps it was better for Kakashi to let it all out now rather than at an inconvenient time. 

Putting his surprise aside for now, and ignoring the strangeness of the situation, he focused instead on Kakashi. Briefly hesitating, he brought his arms up, placing one hand on the silver head and the other on Kakashi's back. Narashi felt him stiffen at the returning contact and comfort. He expected Kakashi to move away, but he made no sign of doing so, remaining where he stood. Slowly, pausing every few seconds, Kakashi brought his hands up until he was clutching tightly at the sides of Narashi's jacket. 

Through the soft, broken sobs, Narashi could make out words being spoken by Kakashi, muffled by both the mask and jacket, which Kakashi almost seemed to not notice he was saying or be able to stop himself if he did. 

"It should've been me. I was the one that was willing to just abandon Rin. I'm the one that got knocked down by that rock. I should've been the one under that boulder, not Obito. He had just activated his sharingan, something he'd wanted for years, but he gave that up just to save me! Me! Why would he do that! When I treated him like trash the nearly entire time we knew each other? Why!"

_I've asked myself that question so many times that I've lost count, and I still don't know it's answer. I've even tried asking Obito, but he's never answered me. The dead can't give answers to the living. _Narashi sighed, answering Kakashi the best way he could. "I don't know why he did what he did, Kakashi. No one does. Obito is probably the only one who knows, and he can't answer any questions. Or maybe even he doesn't know why he did it, simply acting on instinct when he pushed you aside. No one can really tell though. The only thing to do is make sure that his sacrifice wasn't in vain." 

Kakashi made no reply to that, and Narashi had nothing else to say at the moment. Neither knew how long they stood there after that. Could've been two minutes, or it could've been twenty minutes. It didn't matter. Gradually, the tears that Kakashi had desperately needed to let out for years slowed and finally stopped. After a few more minutes, Kakashi took a long, shuddering breath, and stepped out of Narashi's embrace. He let him, turning back to face the memorial, giving the boy-for he was still a boy, despite what his pride would probably say- a moment to compose himself. 

Silence once again permeated the area, broken only by the sounds of nature from the surrounding woods. Narashi had said all he intended to at the moment, and so waited for Kakashi to take the initiative again. As for Kakashi, he wanted to just avoid the whole issue and forget that it ever happened. He couldn't even say what had gotten a hold of him to act like that. But he knew that wouldn't be easy. For one, there were a few questions he needed to ask Narashi, now being as good a time as any to ask them.

"Narashi-san?" Kakashi asked quietly. 

Narashi looked over at Kakashi, who, aside from a bit of redness around his eyes, looked relatively back to normal, though the mask certainly helped in that. "Hmm?"

"How...," Kakashi paused, thinking about what to say. "How did you know all of that? I haven't even really talked about it with Minato-sensei or even Rin. So how would you...?"

Narashi knew that he couldn't tell Kakashi the whole truth. Not only was this not the right time (and he doubted that any time would be good), but the memorial wasn't the place to talk about who he really was either. Luckily, he had expected this question, and so had an answer already prepared, more a half-truth than a lie. After all, the best lies always had a basis of truth to them.

"How did I know how you were feeling?" Narashi shrugged. "Mostly guesswork to be honest. The basic facts of that mission _are_ well known by now, and I'm not deaf. Three weeks may have passed since it happened, but the rumors are still flying. If they aren't talking about me and my sudden appearance and recovery, they're talking about how the last of the Hatake, who holds the record of youngest ninja in all three of the main ranks, gained the eye of the Uchiha." He rubbed the back of his head, as if embarrassed about something, chuckling semi-humorlessly. 

"And well, I suppose you can call it a gift of sorts, but I've always been able to tell how someone might be feeling about something with just a little bit of information, even if I've just met them. Sometimes, it even gets to the point where I have a bit of foresight; visions of what could happen." That last one was meant to explain any future information that he had to reveal to those that didn't know the full truth. Which excluded everyone but Minato at the moment. The ability was certainly known to happen, just very rarely. He'd just have to emphasize that he couldn't control it, so he wouldn't be bombarded by fortune-telling requests, particularly by love-struck girls hoping to know their romantic prospects. Minato already knew, so he'd be able to help vouch for him if anyone didn't believe him.

Kakashi looked up at Narashi incredulously. "Foresight? Meaning that you can see the future?"

Narashi grinned, saying "Not quite. More bits and pieces. And I only see the one of the possible paths, I don't see the actual destination. No one can truly say what will happen, because the future remains unwritten. A simple choice of a single person can result in many possibilities, spreading out like the threads of a spider's web." _Which I need to remember. Just because I have over fifteen years of memories of what _could_ happen, doesn't mean that events are going to remain as straight cut. The more changes I make, the wider that gap is going to get as time goes on, making my knowledge gradually more useless._ "Anything I see in my visions are simply _possibilities_. Doesn't mean that they'll happen."

Kakashi still had his doubts about Narashi's truthfulness (yeah, he trusted him, but that didn't mean he'd believe everything he said. That would simply be moronic to do) about this ability of his, but didn't say anything. Instead, he kept listening as Narashi continued speaking.

"Anyway, with the way everyone is going on about that mission, it wasn't hard to figure out how you'd be feeling about it. Especially the way the Uchiha are treating you." Naruto, for one, had been rather surprised at how harsh that clan were being to Kakashi. He knew that the Uchiha's probably hadn't been happy at the thought that their precious sharingan was now in someone else's control, but the intensity of the wrath had shocked him. It reminded him too much about his childhood and the way everyone had treated him. Yeah, it certainly wasn't as harsh for Kakashi, since only one clan and its supporters were angry at him, instead of an entire village, but the feeling of being stared at like you were lower than dirt remained the same, despite the difference in numbers.

"Hm," was all Kakashi responded with, thinking about what Narashi had said. All of it was true of course. Half the reason he spent most of his time at the memorial was to avoid all the stares and whispers. It reminded him too much of how everyone treated him by association after his father's abandoned mission, and resulting fall from grace. Looking at Narashi, he asked, "So is that how you knew I'd be here, or did Sensei just tell you?"

"It's the former," Narashi answered with a slight smirk. "If everyone stared at me with either shocked awe, pity, or hateful anger, I'd want to be alone as well. And since it was likely that you'd be somewhere where you could honor Obito in some way, the best places would either be the cemetery or here. But the cemetery would likely have other visitors as well, so..." Narashi shrugged as if he felt no need to continue that line.

"Although, Kakashi," Narashi started, getting to the main reason he came here, "if you really want to honor Obito, don't you think he'd rather have you learn to control that eye he gave you, rather than standing here constantly apologizing?" Narashi finished, saying essentially the same thing that Jiraiya had told him. The reactions were the same, as he expected.

Kakashi stared at him, wide eyed with shock. He had never really considered that. Yes, he knew that he needed to learn how to control the sharingan; but at the same time, a part of him _didn't_ want to learn. Not only would it mean having to take lessons from one of the Uchiha, who hated his guts right now, and probably would for the rest of his life. But mastering the sharingan would almost be like claiming it as his completely. It was _Obito's _eye, not his. Yes, his teammate - _former teammate _- freely gave it to him, and sure, it was in his head, but he still couldn't think of the sharingan eye as belonging to him. However, Kakashi also knew that Narashi was right. If Obito could've, Kakashi knew that he would've punched him in the face _again _for how he had been acting recently.

Knowing where Kakashi's thoughts were heading, Narashi smiled while extending an offer. "Come one. I wanted to go training after this, and since I'm fighting Minato at the end of the week, I'd like to get some real practice in first. Clones are all well and good for testing out single attacks on, but a real person is better for actually fighting. You need to learn how to use your eye, so we can both help each other out." Narashi laughed as Kakashi's surprised gaze returned to him after having slid back to the memorial stone in his thoughts. "I may not have the sharingan myself-" _not anymore that is _"-but I've seen it used and have a pretty good understanding on how it might work. So come on, it's win-win for the both of us. I help you learn how to control the sharingan, letting you avoid the Uchiha, and I get a sparring partner to practice with before going up against your sensei."

Looking at Narashi's grinning face, then back at the memorial, Kakashi thought about the offer, even though he already knew what his answer would be. Looking at his name on the stone, Kakashi remembered some of the last words Obito said to him.

"_I can become your eye...and from now on, I will see the future."_

_That's right. Obito is seeing the future through this eye. But it won't be a very exciting, or even long, future if all I do is stand in front of this memorial stone, beating myself up for what happened three weeks ago. Obito deserves _better _than that._

Kakashi looked at Narashi, the smile hidden behind his mask the first real one since that mission. "So, did you have any particular area in mind?"

"I was thinking number eighty-three," Narashi said, grin widening. "It's the one I've been using the past week. Any objections?"

In reply, Kakashi turned around, facing the direction that that particular field resided, jumping to the trees for faster travel. He stopped at the first branch though, looking back at Narashi with a confused look on his face. He hadn't made any move to leave as well. "Aren't you coming? You were the one who offered."

"You go on ahead. I'll catch up in a minute," Narashi said, smiling. "There's just one more thing I need to do." 

Kakashi nodded in understanding, guessing the real reason for the delay, then sped off through the trees at a lazy pace (for a ninja). When he was out of sight and sound, Narashi turned back to the stone fully. After a moment, he crouched down and rubbed his fingers against Obito's name, no longer smooth from time and weather, but sharp from its recent carving. He stayed like that for about a minute, lost in thought, then started speaking, more out of habit than anything.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to save you, Obito. I didn't arrive in time, like usual. If I had, I would've done everything in my power to do so. But I guess Fate, or God, or whoever just didn't want that to happen. I can at least make sure that the future that this Kakashi shows you is better than the one I gave." He chuckled slightly. "Though, after what just happened, you're probably thinking 'Who's the crybaby-ninja now?' right? Wouldn't really surprise me." He paused, smiling softly. "I suppose I should just say what I've been meaning to, and probably should've a long time ago." Narashi bowed his head in respect. "Thank you, my friend." He stood back up slowly, keeping his eyes on his friend's name.

Naruto, feeling that this was the best time to 'come back', did so, saying _'You know what, Kakashi-sensei?'_

'Hm? What?'

'_Even though I never actually met Obito, I don't think that he would've ever blamed you for what happened; and if he ever did, I believe that he's already forgiven you. So maybe you should as well.'_

Kakashi's smile was evident in his voice. 'I appreciate what you're saying, Naruto. I really do. But I don't think I can take that advice until I hear it from Obito's own lips.'

Turning to leave and follow after Kakashi, Narashi suddenly spotted something out of the corner of his eye that made him freeze. Quickly, he turned back around, only managing to catch a bare glimpse of what made him freeze. But it was enough to know without a doubt as to what, or rather who, he had seen.

For a brief instant, standing next to the memorial, looking at him with a grin on his face and orange goggles over his eyes, had been Obito. But he disappeared before Narashi could even blink. 

'_Was that...?'_

'Yeah,' Kakashi replied softly, hardly able to believe it, yet knowing that it had been there. 'Yeah, it was.'

Then, with a soft smile on his face, Narashi turned back towards the training grounds, speeding off after Kakashi, a warm feeling spreading through his chest.

_Thank you for everything, Obito._

* * *

A/N: Now do you understand why I was nervous? Like it said, Kakashi is _not_ the type to cry like that. But this _needed_ to happen. A real confrontation between these two was just begging to happen. I admit though, that this was not how I had planned on it to turn out. 

That last part was just a last minute thing that came to me last night after I finished typing it up.


	9. The Sharingan's Discovery

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Not me, nor anyone else on this site.

A/N: Okay, first things first, for those who don't already know, there are 4 new sketches on my profile page. 1) Narashi - post fusion (pay no mind to the ears, that was just a test) 2) Stomach Growl scene 3) Minato vs Spoon and 4) tree climbing attempt. I got into a drawing mood after the last chapter, so I did those.

Key: (Quote marks are important)

_'Naruto speaking'_

'Kakashi speaking'

**'Kyuubi speaking'**

_thinking_

Chapter 9: The Sharingan's Discovery

Narashi quickly caught up to Kakashi, and together, the two traveled to the chosen field in silence, neither having anything to say. Arriving at the edge, Kakashi quickly noticed the large amount of destruction that had apparently occurred recently. Raising an eyebrow at the sight, he turned to Narashi, question in his visible eye.

Noticing the look, Narashi grumbled "don't ask," not wanting to explain how he and his multiple clones had caused the damage when trying to figure out what jutsus worked and which didn't. More often than not, it was the latter. He walked away until he was about ten feet away, then sharply turned around, signifying that they would start their fight there.

While still curious about what happened, Kakashi decided to just leave it alone, figuring that it had been a jutsu or something similar that had gone _badly _wrong. Instead, he got himself into position, asking, "Any rules?"

Narashi thought for a few seconds before looking back at Kakashi. "Yeah, just three. Number one," he said, holding up a finger, "no Sharingan." Seeing Kakashi about to give a confused protest, Narashi quickly continued. "I know that I said I would help you learn to control it, particularly since it's one of the reasons for us to train together. But you can't rely on that eye all the time, Kakashi. If you recklessly use it in every fight you get into, you're only going to kill yourself."

'I'd be the first one to admit that I overuse my Sharingan too much, a bad habit built up during those first few years, especially when I was in ANBU. I was using it any chance I had, either as an attempt to learn what I could do with it or because I still wasn't used to the lack of depth perception. I hate to admit it, but it was really only my shinobi experience and jounin rank that kept me from colliding into random poles that I couldn't see on my left side.'

'_Oh man, I would've _paid_ to see that happen. I'm still waiting for the day when you run into something while your nose is stuck in one of ero-sennin's books.'_

'Well, you're going to be waiting for a long time then. Too bad for you, and luckily for me, I can multi-task very easily. Unlike someone else I know.'

'_Yeah, I guess,'_ Naruto grumbled. _'...Hey, wait a minute! That better not be me you're talking about!'_

'Now what gave you that crazy idea?'

While Narashi held this side conversation, he had also managed to continue the one he was having with Kakashi.

"Before you learn to fight with the Sharingan, you need to learn how to fight _without_ it first. Since it's covered or closed most of the time, you've lost a lot of the sight you're used to. Learn how to fight with the lose first, _then_ focus on the increased version of the sharingan. Understand?"

Of course, Kakashi understood. What Narashi said made perfect sense to the genius. While he'd prefer to learn how to control the Sharingan first, he also realized that Narashi had a point. Most of the time, he'd be fighting with only one eye, and if he didn't get used to it, he'd be killed.

Kakashi nodded to Narashi, who smiled in return. "Good. Now, the second rule is more of a request than a condition, but I'd appreciate if you followed it anyway. Remember that I just woke up about a week and a half ago, so go easy on me, please."

Kakashi choked back the incredulous laughter that came up. The surrounding area alone proved that Narashi could still cause quite a bit of damage. "I'll keep that in mind."

Narashi narrowed his eyes, not liking the smirk that he could see on the young jounin's masked face. He sighed, then smirked a little himself, knowing that he had some tricks of his own that would get rid of Kakashi's smirk.

"Rule number three is very simple." Narashi's smirk grew wider. "If it doesn't break the first two rules; anything goes."

Kakashi grinned confidently, eye curving slightly. "But that's already a given amongst shinobi, so why point it out?"

"Just wanted to make it clear," Narashi answered. He slid into the basic form of his own taijutsu; legs bent at the knees, the left further back, ready to either jump back or charge forward. His arms were held loosely in front of him. "So, shall we start?"

The other ninja got into his own form, leaning forward, with his hands near his back pouches. "Ready when you are."

"Let's get this show on the road then," Narashi replied, adrenaline already pumping through his veins.

Taking that as the start signal, Kakashi dug his hands into his pouches, tossing a handful of kunai at Narashi, replacing aim with quantity. The older nin quickly jumped into the air to avoid the knives. Kakashi instantly took advantage of Narashi's momentary inability to dodge and tossed his other handful at him.

Having expected Kakashi to make that move, Narashi grinned. Employing the same tactic that Naruto had during the second bell test, he created a kage bunshin just next to him, using it to pull him out of harm's way.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, impressed despite himself with the move. He stowed it away in his mind for later reference.

'_Now who's the impatient?' _Naruto said, amused at the irony of the situation.

'Heh. I suppose you'd like to do the same thing I've done to you both times?'

'_Yeah!'_

'...Alright, but we'll do it a little differently. Trust me, he'll never stay still long enough to get behind him like that.'

Narashi landed on the ground alongside his clone and created five more. The seven Narashis quickly surrounded Kakashi, all of them grinning.

Kakashi looked around at them, starting to realise that the shadow clone technique played a large part of Narashi's fighting style. He quickly got ready to defend himself on all sides. And not a moment too soon, because at that very instant, they attacked.

He focused all his attention on dodging and blocking, unable to retaliate against the flurry of kicks and punches. This was only made more difficult by his blindfolded eye, and found himself _really_ disliking the first rule that Narashi had set. He also realised that that was precisely the reason why he came at him seven to one; to _force_ him to get used to the blind side. But understanding the reason didn't make him like it. Unfortunately, the method also didn't automatically make him an expert in half-blind fighting.

Just as he was blocking a punch from his right, an unseen kick struck him on his left side, right below the ribs. He grunted from the impact, but still managed to continue blocking the next few follow up attacks. Before he could push back the pain completely though, something invisible suddenly grabbed him around his ankles and tossed him into the air.

Shocked and confused though he was by the action, Kakashi wasn't Konoha's youngest jounin for nothing. He proved this by flipping over in the air, already using the temporary break to form the seals of a jutsu that would get rid of all the clones. Some of them apparently recognized the jutsu, as they turned toward the one who Kakashi suspected had thrown him, yelling out "you idiot!" while trying to escape. Too late, though, as Kakashi slammed his hands into the ground as he landed, crying out the jutsu's name.

"Raiton: Keiro Shoukou no Jutsu!"

Lightning instantly erupted out of the ground, radiating out from where Kakashi crouched, illuminating the entire area. One by one, Narashi's clones disappeared with a 'poof' as they were touched by the electricity, their small pain tolerance unable to stand the powerful attack. As the light from the Raiton jutsu faded, Kakashi stood up, looking around for any sign of his opponent.

_I knew it, _he thought, still looking around. _He used the distraction caused by his clones to switch out and hide his presence. So where could he be hiding?_ He stretched out his senses as far as he could, but found no sign of him. _Unless he's..._ Kakashi gasped, looking down at his feet, _BELOW!_

He realized this too late however, because just as he looked down, Narashi's hands burst out of the ground and grabbed his ankles.

"Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!"

"Damn it!" Kakashi cursed as Narashi pulled him into the ground up to his chin. He didn't bother struggling, knowing it would be futile. Instead, he just glared at Narashi as the other man walked up, laughing, crouching down in front of him.

"Don't look at me like that," Narashi said, grinning. "You were the one who got impatient."

"Impatient?!" Kakashi sputtered incredulously.

"Yes, impatient," Narashi continued, wide, fox-like grin on his face. "I hadn't even said 'start' yet, and there you go, tossing kunai at me. Sheesh!" He shook his head as if disappointed.

Kakashi didn't say anything, merely intensifying his glare.

'You know, I think I'm starting to understand why Sensei and Jiraiya-sama enjoyed teasing me so much at any opportunity they had. It's so entertaining to se my younger self's reactions. And since I know what buttons to push, it makes it more fun.' Naruto joined Kakashi in his laughter.

If it was possible, Narashi's grin widened as he started saying, "Ready, set," he paused, building up the tension that had formed. "Start!"

A second late, Kakashi disappeared, revealing himself to have been a kage bunshin, leaving behind a smirking Narashi. "Two can play at that game," he muttered, before popping out himself.

Now the _real_ hunt begins.

OOOOOOOO

As the sun started to set in the west, creating long shadows across the ground, Narashi and Kakashi collapsed onto the ground near the edge of the field. They had spent the past few hours sparring fiercely against the other, alternating between extreme taijutsu and ninjutsu battles, to more subtle genjutsus and traps. Now, both of them were exhausted, breathing hard, and laying spread eagle on the ground, side by side.

"I...still think that...you cheated," Kakashi stated breathlessly, obviously irritated despite his exhaustion.

Narashi gave a tired smile. "Heheheh...can't cheat...if one...of the rules is...'anything goes.'"

Kakashi sent a weak glare at the man. "Doesn't matter if it's 'anything goes' or not. A hundred to one is unfair, and you know it!" He hit Narashi in the shoulder as hard as he could, which, considering how tired he was, wasn't that hard. "If you wanted me to go easy on you, the least you could've done was return the favor."

"HA!" Narashi responded disbelievingly. "Like you were even trying to hold back in the first place. If I hadn't told you not to use your Sharingan, you probably would've charged one of those 'chidoris' I've heard about at me."

"If I had been allowed to use the Sharingan in the first place," Kakashi retorted, "I wouldn't have been so overwhelmed by your _army_."

"That may be true," Narashi chuckled. "But if you had, you wouldn't be here talking to me. Instead, you'd be in a hospital bed, unconscious for who knows how long."

"Hn." Kakashi had no further comment to that, so he didn't give one.

For a while, neither said anything, simply laying on their backs and watching the sky darken. Only when the sky was more a dark purplish-blue than a pinkish-gold, and the first of the night's stars were twinkling into existence, did one of them speak.

"Hey, Narashi," Kakashi started, almost nervously, "about what happened earlier..."

Knowing what the other was talking about, Narashi spoke before he could continue. "You don't have to say anything, Kakashi. I was glad to help in any way I could. And don't worry," Narashi added, smiling at Kakashi, "I'm not going to tell anybody about it." Kakashi smiled back briefly, though it remained hidden behind his mask.

Wanting to get his mind off of the rather embarrassing moment at the memorial, he asked, "So, what was your assessment of me, _Sensei_?"

"Oh, don't give me any of that 'Sensei' crap," Narashi snorted. "You and I both know that the only one you deem as deserving of the title is currently having his face carved into the mountain side."

That statement got a chuckle from Kakashi. "Okay, true, but seriously," he said, sitting up while looking at Narashi, "what did you think?"

Narashi remained on his back, putting his arms under his head. "Well," he started, carefully constructing his response, "you adapted well to each situation. Summoning your ninja hounds near the start was a good idea." _Even if they did give me a bit of a panic attack when they got my scent and got confused on the impression they were getting. _"Although you're obviously used to relying on your eyes, you still used your other senses rather well throughout our fight." _Though not often enough._

"However, you got frustrated whenever I got past your guard, which always leads to more mistakes. So try not to get so frustrated so often. It's going to be a while before you can sense and block every attack. You also need to moderate your chakra use a bit more. Once that Sharingan is put into play, you aren't going to be able to use as many powerful jutsus as often. Always keep that in mind, Kakashi. Like we went over earlier, use that eye too much and you'll only end up getting yourself killed.

"Overall, though," he said, finally sitting up as well, "it's no surprise how you gained the rank of jounin three weeks ago. Many might think otherwise because of your age, but your skill makes it clear that you deserved it."

Kakashi smiled, appreciating that last comment. It irritated him more than he cared to admit how most of the older ninja underestimated him just because of his age, sole exceptions being his Sensei, Kushina, the Third, and Jiraiya. And even _they_ had taken a bit of convincing to get them to stop underestimating him. The first time he'd entered the jounin HQ, just after achieving the rank, he'd been treated as if he didn't even deserve to wear his headband, let alone be in the building. A couple had even gone so far as to act like he was only a messenger sent to retrieve one of the jounin, instead of being there for more important reasons. The reactions had been just as bad when he made chuunin, and had only gotten worse since the mission.

So to be instantly treated like an equal by Narashi was a pleasant change for Kakashi. Unlike many other ninja that he had fought before, Narashi hadn't really held back in their fight. Even though he had the impression that Narashi could've done more, he also felt that his reasons for withholding those skills had been his own, rather than because of Kakashi himself. Knowing this, only enforced the trust and respect that Narashi had somehow gained from him.

"So," the older nin said, "enough about your performance. What did Konoha's youngest jounin think of mine?"

"It was okay," Kakashi replied instantly. "Your taijutsu is sloppy, and your chakra control is terrible. That _gigantic_ chakra reserve you have is probably the only reason that _you_ didn't end up in the hospital again." Kakashi turned a frustrated glare at Narashi, who had scoffed at his own comments. "I'm still trying to figure out how you managed to toss or push me aside multiple times without even touching me."

Narashi's irritation at what Kakashi had said transformed into a laugh. "That's a secret, one I don't intend on telling you. And no, you can't copy it, so don't even try," he added before Kakashi could say anything.

"Hmph." Kakashi really wanted to know how Narashi had done what he did, but also realized that he wouldn't be getting the answer. Not right now at least. He shrugged, finishing with his assessment. "All in all, you don't stand a chance against Sensei on Sunday."

"Tch. Here I am, sacrificing my time to help you, complimenting you for your skill. And all the thanks I get are insults! Hmph!" Narashi grumbled, crossing his arms in irritation.

As Kakashi burst out laughing, Naruto brought up a question that had been bugging him the entire day. _'You know, Kakashi-sensei, your younger self isn't quite what I expected. From the way you described it, I kinda expected someone like Sasuke, just without the need for revenge.'_

'I know. I'm just as surprised as you are, honestly. I've never been one to just automatically let people in. So the fact that Kakashi - (it's weird to address myself in third person) - has apparently done so is...rather odd.'

'**It's obvious,'** Kyuubi interrupted. **'The kid may not know the truth, but a part of him **_**does**_** feel the connection the two of you have. You can probably feel the same thing, Cyclops; you just haven't paid it any mind. It's different for Kakashi though, because he can't explain what the connection is. Once Naruto is born, he will most likely feel the same.'**

Now that Kyuubi had pointed it out, Kakashi did feel something whenever he was around young-Kakashi. But like the Demon Fox had pointed out, he had only attributed it to knowing that they were one and the same. He hadn't considered that younger Kakashi would be feeling the exact same.

'I guess you're right, Kyuubi. I just hope that it doesn't get to the point where he finds out the truth.' Kyuubi gave a small growl in agreement.

"Narashi?"

He dragged himself back into reality when he heard Kakashi say his name. Any worry that he had space out again, and Kakashi had had to call him multiple times, died though when he saw that the younger ninja appeared to have been lost in thought as well.

"Hmm?" he said, showing that he was listening.

Kakashi turned toward him, a grateful smile hidden by his mask. "Really. Thanks." _For everything._

Narashi blinked in surprise, then smiled as well. "Anytime, Kakashi," he said, ruffling the silver hair, laughing when he smacked his hand away. "Anytime."

OOOOOO

Unbeknownst to either the two ninja, a certain blond Hokage stood in the shadows of the nearby forest, a soft smile on his face as he observed what would appear to be, to the uninformed, two brothers resting after an intense training session.

_And in a way_, Minato thought, _that's essentially what they are, when one thinks about it. Kakashi is half of Narashi, even if he doesn't know it. I wouldn't be surprised that if the two had a blood test, that half their results would be identical. Considering that, _he added ruefully,_ note to self; keep that type of information away from those who don't need to know the truth. It's no secret that Kakashi is the last of the Hatake, so I doubt that it would be good for rumors to start up that he and Narashi might be related._

Minato turned his attention back to the two ninja on the field. He had arrived near the end of their fight and had decided to remain hidden, wanting to see what happened. Admittedly, he'd been rather surprised to see Kakashi here when he came to find and invite Narashi over for dinner (at Kushina's insistence). At the same time, he was happy to see Kakashi getting out of his depression and training again. He'd been worried, because he hadn't known what to do about it, or rather he did, but hadn't had the time with his new promotion. He'd been considering asking Jiraiya to help whenever his perverted sensei showed up, but it appeared that he didn't need to do that.

Seeing the way Kakashi acted towards Narashi though shocked him perhaps as much as finding him here. He treated Narashi as if he had known him for years, rather than a week; a week in which he'd had very little contact with the man. It had taken Minato himself _weeks_ to get the five-year-old Kakashi to open up to him, and that was before Sakumo's death closed him off to everyone around him.

_But then, it's like you pointed out earlier_, Minato told himself. _The two are practically the same person. Maybe a part of Kakashi realizes that. _

Minato wasn't completely sure as to the reason, but he certainly wasn't going to do anything to change it. He liked the change he was seeing, and knew that Narashi was probably causing that change to happen. He had no intention of stopping him.

Pushing his thoughts aside, Minato stepped out of the trees, finally revealing himself to the other two, greeting them as he did so.

OOOOOOOO

Three days after their first spar together, Narashi and Kakashi once again stood apart from each other on the training field. They had continued meeting there early in the morning, staying until late afternoon, Narashi helping Kakashi get used to his new, usual sight limitations, and Kakashi helping Narashi prepare for his fight against Minato. Every time, they altered the rules of their fights to suit their purposes; taijutsu only, Kakashi/Narashi on defense, weapons, etc.

Today, though, they were going to change their routine even more.

"Use the Sharingan?" Kakashi asked, blinking in surprise.

Narashi nodded. "Yep. You've gotten better at going without it, though you're still not perfect. Time to balance it out now by getting you more used to using that eye. There will still be days when I'm not going to let you use it, but we'll start mixing it in more."

Nodding in acceptance of the explanation, Kakashi brought his hand up to push his hitai-ate back into it's proper position, eager to get started. But when he opened his eye and looked over at his opponent, all thoughts of a fight left him at what he saw.

Now while the Sharingan couldn't see the chakra coils like the Byakugan could, it could still see the chakra itself. But what Kakashi saw when he looked at Narashi was unlike anything he had ever seen or heard of.

It was almost like looking at three different people, one directly behind the other, all of which had a different color. Two appeared to share dominance, though the third topped them both in sheer power. Blue and white chakra spread evenly throughout Narashi's body, blending in certain areas into a light blue. The presence of the white chakra shocked Kakashi, because he knew that only the Hatake, which he was the last, had white chakra. So seeing it in someone else surprised him far more than he ever thought it would.

Even if the white chakra didn't surprise him, what the third chakra did would've. Blood-red in color, it concentrated more in certain areas than it did in others, unlike the other two colors. Like the other two, it blended in as well, more with the blue to form a purple, than with the white. Flowing outside of Narashi's body, the red chakra formed what could only a long tail, waving and wagging behind him, and two fox or dog ears sticking out of the side of his head. Kakashi couldn't really describe it, but every time he looked at that red chakra, chills flowed down his spine and his instincts kept telling him to run away.

Taking all this in, Kakashi stood statue still, both eyes open wide in shock, and mouth gaping.

Narashi was momentarily confused by Kakashi's sudden change in demeanor. It only took him a split second though to realise why Kakashi was so openly shocked. At which point, all sides of him, including Kyuubi, started cursing up such a storm that it would've made the most hardened of ninjas blush. The content only got worse when the teen ninja asked slowly, shock and even a little bit of fear obvious in his voice.

"Who, and what are you?"

A/N: And we have another spontaneous ending! And it's stuff like that that makes it impossible for me to work out of an outline. I was thinking while I was writing out the fight 'Hmm, I wonder what the sharingan would see when they get to that part?' :mental lightbulb: I honestly can't believe that it never occured to me before hand. But now it has, and this is the result.

Oh, and I know I haven't done this very often, so I'll do it now: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! It makes me so very happy to open my email and see review alerts. Gives me motivation to keep this fic going. :D

Jutsu translations:

**Raiton: Keiro Shoukou no Jutsu**: Loosely, it means Lightning Element: Paths of Light Technique, which I got from an internet translator. But I don't know japanese, except for a few words, so if anybody knows a proper translation, please let me know.

**Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu**: Inner Decapitation Technique


	10. Revealing

Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. If it did, Sasuke would've died by now (I apologize to all Sasuke-fans, but the last few _dozen_ manga chapters have put him **deep** into my hate list).

A/N: The chapter is finally done! I'm sorry to have left you all with such a big cliffhanger, but May has been a busy month for me. Primarily, this one fact; Senior finals. Which leads me to my reason for working to get this posted today. Yesterday was my last day of high school! YES!! So this is posted in celebration of this event. :D (To be honest, I had wanted to get this up yesterday, but my computer was being annoying, and refused to let me.)

Thank you to all reviewers, but especially 'Wandering Hitokiri', who made the 200 spot! :hands you virtual cookie of your favorite flavor: Yay! The reviews for this last chapter in particular were...amusing, to say the least. rofl But it's reactions like that that make cliff-hangers so fun to do. :D (I'm sorry, I know that they're irritating to get, but they're really fun to do lol)

One more note to those who don't know before I let you read the long awaited chapter; Narashi is finally colored! And it looks wonderful. As usual the link can be found on my profile.

Key (quote marks ARE important):

_thoughts_

_'Naruto speaking'_

'Kakashi speaking'

**'Kyuubi speaking'**

**_'all three speaking' _**(or various combinations of just two of them)

* * *

Chapter 10: Revealing

Kakashi stared at Narashi's true form in open shock and a little bit of fear. Shakily, he asked;

"Who, and what _are_ you?"

Narashi's mind raced, frantically trying to come up with an explanation of how Kakashi could see through the illusion.

'_Crap! Hey, Kyuubi! I thought you said that no one would be able to see through the illusion you put up! So how come Kakashi has obviously seen past it?' _Naruto demanded, panicking.

'**How should I know?!'** Kyuubi responded angrily. **I'm just as surprised as you are. No mortal should be able to dispel one of **_**my**_** illusions. You know as well as I that one of those **_**"guards" **_**was an Uchiha who no doubt had their doujutsu activated. Since my great presence has obviously remained unknown, the genjutsu held. So you explain to me how a **_**single, immature**_** Sharingan in the hands of a **_**child,**_** who barely knows how to control it, can do something that a **_**pair of mature eyes**_** can not.'**

'_You're supposed to be the 'all-knowing, thousands year old demon'!_ _If even _you_ can't explain it, then how do you expect _me_ to? I know next to nothing about _how_ the Sharingan works, only what it can do. But if you want one, here's what I got; your control on the illusion slipped a little, which allowed Kakashi to see our tail and ears.'_

Kyuubi's chakra spiked, as if he was rising angrily to his paws, snarling. **'Don't you dare blame-!'**

'Will the two of you stop arguing, and let me think?!' Kakashi shouted, finally losing his patience, the normally long fuse cut short by the shock of younger Kakashi's sudden discovery.

Surprisingly, even Kyuubi backed down at the sudden outburst from the normally calm jounin. The two quietly stepped down, allowing the other man to handle the situation.

Narashi sighed, running a hand through his silver-gold hair, before looking at Kakashi, his expression blank and unreadable. "What exactly do you see Kakashi?" he quietly asked.

'Let's figure _that_ out first before anybody starts pointing fingers.' Naruto and Kyuubi wisely kept their mouths shut.

During the few minutes where Narashi was arguing with himself, Kakashi had managed to get over most of his initial shock and fear, and now his face was just as unreadable as Narashi's. 'Arguing with himself' was an apt description of what Kakashi had just seen Narashi's strange chakra do. After standing stock still in shock for a moment, the blue and red chakras started 'butting heads', seeming to fight for dominance over the other. Just as the red chakra spiked dangerously, enough that Kakashi felt the hair on the back of his neck rise in alarm, the white chakra suddenly rose angrily, subduing the other two, even the obviously stronger red. Now, while before the three chakras had been evenly dispersed amongst Narashi's body, white obviously held dominance.

Hearing Narashi's question, Kakashi explained what he could see of his multiple chakras, as well as what he'd just witnessed.

When he finished, Narashi sighed again, his ears folding back in irritation, muttering a curse under his breath. He turned around and walked over to one of the many fallen trees in the field, which the two shinobi had been using as a bench.

"Cover your eye," he tossed over his shoulder at Kakashi. "This is going to take a while and there's no point in wasting your chakra."

Kakashi did as ordered, though he remained standing while Narashi took a seat. While the sense of trust and respect that he held for the man, which had increased over the past few days, surprisingly remained as strong as before, it was overshadowed br wariness at the discovery that Narashi, if the ears and tail were anything to go by, was just not human.

"Well," Narashi started, "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, so go ahead and ask. I can't promise that I'll answer them all, but any that I can, I will," _I'd rather not explain anything if I don't have to, so having Kakashi ask me questions is better than me just telling him any information._

Dozens of questions exploded through Kakashi's head, each demanding to be answered. One in particular, though, kept coming up to the forefront of his mind. Kakashi hesitated a little before asking, actually a little wary of Narashi's answer. "How..." he paused for a second, then started again. "How do you have White Chakra?"

'_White chakra? What is that exactly? I know, from what young-Kakashi said, that the white represents you, Kakashi-sensei, but I just figured it was another side effect of the fusion. But from the way he said it, it sound like it's actually really important. So what is it?'_

'I'll explain later, Naruto. For now, all you need to know is that White Chakra is something of a kekkei genkai, exclusive only to the Hatake family.'

'_You mean you have a - ?!'_

'_Later_, Naruto.'

'**Save your questions, Gaki,'** Kyuubi interjected before Naruto could continue pushing for answers. **'A discussion about a bloodline is too complicated to talk about right now. There's someone else who needs answers right now, anyway, so there's no time.'**

Narashi looked at the young teenager standing across from him. "Honestly," he started, thinking carefully on his answer, "I didn't even know I had it. Not until you told me at least."

'Which is actually true, I didn't know I had it. Not in this body, at least.'

'_Yeah. I just figured our chakras merged as well. I mean, it _is_ made up of a combination of physical and spiritual energies, and all that.'_

'**You've just answered your own question. We may share the same body, and so the same physical energy. But our souls are still separate, (thank the gods), and that is where the separation stands. Our souls are different, so our chakras are different.'**

Since that made sense, Narashi quickly turned his attention back to Kakashi, just in time to hear him ask angrily and disbelievingly, "What do you mean, 'you didn't know'?"

"Exactly what I said, Kakashi," Narashi answered, shrugging his shoulder. "I'm being serious here, I really didn't know. I'm sorry I don't have a better answer but that's how it is." He waited for Kakashi to say something but when he didn't, Narashi asked, "So, what's your next question? 'Cause I can't believe that _that_ would be your only one."

Kakashi, who had been looking at the ground, trying to come up with an explanation to his own question, turned his gaze back to the other man, his single eye conveying none of his thoughts. "Technically, you haven't even answered my first question. And you know which one I mean," he quickly added, irritated, when Narashi opened his mouth to reply in ignorance.

The older shinobi closed his mouth, face once again expressionless, thinking very carefully about how to respond. He knew, though, that there was really only one way to answer.

'Kyuubi?'

'**I know. But what are you going to tell him? The full truth or just half?'**

'Just half for now,' Kakashi answered after a brief pause. 'It's a little too late to try and keep that part a secret any longer.'

Naruto instantly caught on to what they were talking about. _'So we're really going to show him?'_

'Might as well. Kakashi's already seen it through his sharingan. There's no point in continuing to hide it from him.'

'_How are we going to explain it though? Obviously, we aren't going to just tell him that we came from the future, and the nine-tailed demon fox was just a part of the package.'_ Naruto ignored the faint growl from said demon at that statement. _'So what are we going to say?'_

'**Tch,' **Kyuubi scoffed. **'Just tell him that you're a half-demon with the ability to go full, which you've decided to do. And yes, that is possible,'** he added before the other two could ask. **'You can come up with your own explanation for why.'**

'I already have something in mind, so we don't need to worry about that. Do you have any objections to this, Naruto?'

'_Not really. He's _your_ younger self, so you're the only one who knows what's best. If you think this is a good idea, Kakashi-sensei, then I'll go along with it.'_

Narashi let out a small sigh, hoping that he wasn't making a huge mistake here. As he looked back up at Kakashi, he released the illusion, revealing his true form to Kakashi's normal eye.

Even though he had already seen it, at least partially, through the sharingan, it still came as a huge shock to Kakashi when Narashi's form suddenly shimmered and revealed those animalistic features in full. The long golden tail was draped over the front of the log-bench, its silver tip flicking idly back and forth. The fox ears were folded back, as if their owner was worried about something. The sharp claws and overlarge canines glinted in the sunlight. And his eyes. A sharp, black line, deeper than the Abyss, lying in a pool of blood red, looking straight into his own, seeming to stare into his very soul.

Only one word entered Kakashi's mind to describe what he saw.

Demon.

"This is what I am, Kakashi," Narashi said, somewhat sadly, knowing where Kakashi's thoughts were going. There was no turning back now, though, so he had to continue. "I am a hanyou, a half-demon. It was only after I decided to become a full demon that I actually transformed. That was after I woke up, so that's why nobody saw while I was unconscious."

He paused, waiting for some kind of reaction from Kakashi. He was disappointed though, as the boy kept his head down, his hair shadowing his visible eye. He didn't know quite what reaction he had been expecting, but he'd been hoping for something more than this complete silence.

"Kakashi. I can guess what you might be thinking, and I doubt they're pleasant. But I would swear on everything I care about that, demon or not, I would never harm this village or anyone in it." Narashi needed Kakashi to understand that. It just seemed inherently _wrong_ for Kakashi to fear and hate him.

"Why?"

Kakashi's sudden question startled Narashi, not knowing how to respond. "What?"

"Why did you decide to become a full demon?" Kakashi asked, looking up and looking at him with a one-eyed glare that demanded a good answer. "There is a reason right? That isn't the kind of decision someone would make lightly, and you don't strike me as the power-hungry type."

Narashi blinked, surprised, though he couldn't really say why, as he had actually been somewhat expecting this question, and so had his answer prepared. "Remember when I told you about my foresight ability?" Kakashi nodded. "Well, just after I woke up, I had a 'vision' of sorts, and realised that something catastrophic would happen to Konoha. I can't say what, nor can I say when. But I do know that it's going to be disastrous for the village, with a lot of deaths and a lot of damage. That's why I decided to take the change. If I can use my power to help protect the village, then it's worth it."

Kakashi looked at him in confusion and a bit of disbelief as well. "Why do you care so much about the safety of Konoha? You just got here, and haven't even been officially instated as a ninja yet, so why? What reason would you have?"

Smiling, Narashi answered, "I may have only just physically arrived, but in my heart, Konoha has always been my home. I was wearing this," he pointed up to his hitae-ate, "when you found me, for a reason, you know."

He still wasn't sure if he believed Narashi or not, but he decided to leave it for now, since he could see that Narashi was being completely honest when he said that he would do anything to protect Konoha and its inhabitants. When it came down to it, that is all that mattered. The exact reasons weren't important at the moment.

There was, however, one matter that he couldn't leave alone. "Does Sensei know?" he asked, expecting a straight answer.

Frowning a little, Narashi answered Kakashi's question somewhat hesitatingly. "Depends on what you're referring to. If it's the prediction, then yes, he does know. I told him everything I could about that." _Though I left out he small detail that he would seal the demon in his own newborn son._ _But that's a reason in and of itself._

The younger ninja's eyes narrowed. "But what about -?"

"- me being a demon?" Narashi interrupted, finishing the question. He sighed, reaching the point he was more worried about. "You're the only one who knows. Minato knows about everything else, but he doesn't know what I am. And I would like to keep it that way, Kakashi." He quickly continued as Kakashi opened his mouth to argue. "I know you disagree with me on that, and I understand why. Trust me, when the time is right, he and the rest of the village _will_ know. But it's better that they don't find out until then. That's why I'm asking you to keep this secret, Kakashi. No one else can know."

The young jounin looked as if he was unwilling to comply, instead ready to go straight to the Hokage's office to explain what he had been told. He had one last thing to ask however. "There's an entire clan of Sharingan users here, and the Byakugan would do just as well, if not better, at seeing past your illusion that keeps your true from hidden. What's to stop other ninjas from finding out like I did and telling the entire village?"

Narashi instantly started laughing, if somewhat humorlessly. "I'm still trying to figure out how _you_ saw through it! The entire first week I was here, I had both Uchihas and Hyuugas staring at me with their bloodlines, as if trying to see past my chakra and look into my head, trying to find some reason to get me out of this village. Since there has yet to be an uprising to exile me from Fire Country, they obviously hadn't seen anything. Your Sharingan certainly helped, but there has to be something about you specifically that allowed you to see past it."

'Although,...now that it's put like that, I think I know why now.'

'_Really?! What?'_

'...We're the same person. He is me, and I am him, even if there are sixteen years separating us. But even though I have more experience than he does, our chakras are still the same. I honestly can't explain it any better than that, and I'm sure there are other factors as well. But I am sure that it's part of the reason, at least.'

'**Even if you can't explain it, what you just said still makes a lot of sense. There isn't much that can be kept secret from yourself.' **Kyuubi growled low in his throat.** 'And now I'm starting to worry that being sealed in the brat all these years is finally having an adverse effect on me. That's the only way a **_**human**_** could've figured out something relatively simple before **_**I **_**could.'**

'_Haha! Yeah, you must be losing your...touch...'_ Naruto faded off, actually thinking about what Kyuubi said precisely. _'HEY! Wait a minute! What do you mean by that?!'_

Only through sheer force of (Kakashi's) will did Narashi manage to keep the expression on his face unchanged, though his eyes now glittered in part irritation, part amusement. He turned his attention back to Kakashi, who looked a little stunned at the information he had been told, and said, "So you see, unless they've all been hiding it from the general population for some reason, it's unlikely that anybody else will figure out my secret the way you did.

"But that's really beside the point. The point here is," Narashi continued, looking at the younger jounin in full seriousness, "will you, or will you not, keep what you found out today a secret?"

Kakashi though very carefully on his response. He knew that Narashi had been telling the truth, (though how he knew this with complete certainty was a mystery to him), and that he thought it would be very bad if the village found out that he was a demon before it was 'time'. But at the same time, he had an obligation to his village and his Hokage to 'sound the alarm' when he perceived any kind of threat to the village.

'_But you don't feel threatened by Narashi,' _a small voice said in the back of his mind. _'You're shocked by the knowledge, but you know that there isn't any actual threat.'_

That was true, he didn't feel any. When he first saw Narashi's demon form, his head kept telling him to run and notify Minato that there was a demon in the village. That would have been the logical action to take. But something else insisted that he stay and listen to Narashi before he made a decision to do anything. And he had listened to it.

_That seems to be the rising standard with Narashi. Listen to my heart, not my head_, Kakashi thought wryly. _I've been told all my life that a shinobi should always examine the situation and make the most logical choice based only on facts,_ never_ on personal feelings. But ever since..._that_ mission, everything I believed in has been turned around, and the way I act towards everyone is different. Do I want to change that, though?_

Without even really thinking about it, Kakashi already knew what his answer would be.

"All right, Narashi, I won't tell anybody. If it needs to be kept secret, I'll keep it secret," Kakashi told him. "But...if a situation occurs where I _have_ to tell someone, I will," he added, the look on his face making it clear that he was being serious.

Frowning as he responded, Narashi said, "All right, but on one condition." He continued as Kakashi raised an eyebrow in question. "If you have to tell somebody, only tell Minato." The man paused, considering something. "If he's unavailable, Jiraiya-sama or Sarutobi-sama will be fine as well. But no one else, okay?"

Kakashi nodded, easily agreeing to the condition, and understanding its reasoning. "Yeah. I would've only told people I trusted anyway, not some random person on the street."

_And if you trust them, I trust them, though you don't really need to know that or the reason_, Narashi though with a smile. It quickly turned into a grin. "So, is there anything else you want to know while I'm still willing to answer questions?"

"Not really," Kakashi answered after thinking for a few seconds. "You've already answered the main ones I had, and I think I've figured out the answer to my last one." He pointed to the tail still draped over the log. "How you managed to toss me during our fights."

Narashi instantly started laughing, said tail pounding a rythym on the wood. He stopped, though, when he heard the signature 'poof' of a summoning. Opening his eyes, and seeing the danger speeding towards him, he quickly dodged to the side with a shocked yell.

His tail, however, wasn't as fast to escape.

Gaping, Narashi stared at the appendage, particularly where one of Kakashi's larger shuriken had it pinned to the log near the silver tip. Two of the long prongs were on either side of the actual flesh of the tail, holding it in place, but aside from slicing off a few hairs, not causing any damage.

Turning his gaze to the perpetrator, Narashi could see that he was obviously smirking, both eyes uncovered. He stood in a battle position, turned a little to the side.

"Well, are we going to get back to training again, or what?" Kakashi asked, his smirk widening. _Revenge is usually a hard pill to swallow when done, but sometimes, it can be really sweet._ "I got a little distracted by your appearance, but I'm ready now, so let's get back to where we left off, shall we?" He finished his off with the standard 'come and get me' motion with his hand.

Narashi's shocked gaze immediately turned into a glare. As he freed his tail by sharply pulling the shuriken out, only one statement ran through his mind.

'_**That brat is going to **_**pay**_**!'**_

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Later that day, just as the sky started to darken as sunset approached, Narashi collapsed into the bed in his small apartment, completely exhausted by the day's events. He had sent Kakashi home to rest after the boy had started to tire out from chakra exhaustion after a couple hours of fighting. He had decided to head back home himself after making sure that the teen had actually made it to his apartment.

Yawning, he put his arms behind his head, and without even bothering to take off his jacket or headband, he closed his eyes and instantly fell asleep.

Only to find themselves in front of Kyuubi's cell.

"Hey, Kyuubi!" Naruto shouted, irritated at the sleep interruption. "What's the deal? We're all tired, so can't you let us get _some_ sleep?"

"Tch," Kyuubi scoffed. "You were the one with questions you wanted answered earlier, brat. About White Chakra, _remember_? I just figured that now would be as good a time as any to answer them. Face to face is just easier as well."

"Oh." Figuring that he might as well take advantage of the chance Kyuubi had 'so kindly' offered, Naruto turned to Kakashi, who stood next to him, looking like he would rather be somewhere else. "You said that 'white chakra' was your kekkei genkai, but I didn't even know you had one. Except for the Sharingan, but that isn't even yours, technically. So what is it, exactly? And I thought your chakra was blue, like chakra normally is. So why the difference?" Naruto asked, recalling what Neji had told him once when he asked enough times about what he saw through the Byakugan.

Kakashi looked like he was about to reply with a short answer that would tell Naruto no more than he had earlier. Before he could even open his mouth though, Kyuubi took it upon himself to answer Naruto's questions.

"Okay, first Gaki, one question at a time," the demon fox growled out. "As for your questions; yes, chakra normal is blue, so to speak, at least in its natural form. Only demons have a naturally different color, which is different for each of us. Ichibi's is gold, Nibi's is an orangish-yellow, Sanbi's is sea green, so on and so forth until you come to my red chakra." Kyuubi's teeth gleamed as he grinned, unable to resist adding, "Of course, that color is a sign of just how powerful I am.

"However, during the time when there were no ninja villages, only nomadic clans who fought against each other almost constantly, there was one clan who had a chakra that was very similar to demon chakra. Not just in the way it looked, but the way it acted as well. This, in turn, earned them a reputation of being a clan of demons."

Naruto gasped, not having expected that bit of information. He didn't need to ask to know which clan Kyuubi spoke of. He looked over at Kakashi to see how he reacted, noticing that the man had leaned up against the wall, hands in his pockets, his shoulders stiff from what was being revealed by Kyuubi. Naruto didn't know if that reputation was still in widely known, but from Kakashi's reaction, there had probably been references made about it towards him at some point.

_There are probably some being said right now, in fact_, Naruto thought with a scowl, having noticed how some villagers looked at teen-Kakashi in the past two weeks. _Especially by the Uchiha. I definitely wouldn't be surprised, with the way they're treating him._

Kyuubi's grin widened at Naruto's reaction. "Yes, they were the Hatake, the so-called 'demon clan'." He scoffed, as if disgusted and insulted by that statement. "Of course, that reputation is nothing but rumor. The white chakra users were just as human as any other clan. The only true connection to demons the Hatake could have is the rumor that they somehow gained their bloodline from Gobi, the Wolf Demon, whose chakra is the same. Whether it's true or not, though, only Gobi knows, and he and I have never been friends." The angry growl in his voice when speaking about the Five-Tailed Wolf gave truth to Kyuubi's words.

"Whether there is any real connection though, it matters not," he said, shaking his head. "The fact remains that white chakra acts very much like yokai, and is the strongest chakra a non-jinchuriki can achieve." Kyuubi suddenly chuckled darkly. "Of course, like all kekkei genkai, there is a risk in using it. Isn't that right, Cyclops?"

Kakashi didn't respond for a few minutes, thinking about his answer, though he really didn't want to talk about it. He didn't bother asking how the Kyuubi knew so much about his family history and bloodline. It didn't take much to realize that some of what the ancient demon knew would be impossible for mortals to even comprehend, much less know. Looking over at Naruto, though, he saw the boy's rising curiosity, impatient for an answer.

"White chakra," Kakashi started slowly, releasing a resigned sigh, "_is_ very powerful, but it's also very hard to control properly. The more chakra being accessed, the harder it is to control, and the probability of going berserk increases. It's that that actually gave my clan the reputation that Kyuubi spoke of, in fact. There's no actual transformation of any kind, but it's still very similar to what happens when you use the Kyuubi's Cloak. The distinction between friend and foe becomes...difficult...to maintain, after a certain limit, which would be different for everyone."

Here he stopped, debating with himself on whether to continue or not, as the topic started getting to more personal territory that he never like talking about. The choice was decided when Naruto asked, "But that doesn't really explain why I've never seen you use it before. I understand the risk." He threw an annoyed glare towards Kyuubi when he said this. The demon merely started to pick his teeth with his claws, completely uninterested in any complaints Naruto may have.

Naruto ignored the demon's actions, though his eyebrow twitched in annoyance, and finished what he was saying. "But even with the risk, this kekkei genkai sounds like it still would've been useful sometimes."

Kakashi stood rock stiff as he answered Naruto's question. "There's a very good reason why you have never seen me use that power. Except when I used the 'Chakra Fang', the blade my father created specifically for our bloodline, I've only fully accessed that reserve three times in my life. And each time, I had lost complete control over my actions instantly." Kakashi stopped again, staring hard at the ground, having reached the heart of why he disliked talking about his bloodline. Finally, though, he finished his explanation, voice laced with intense guilt.

"The first time it happened, I was seven, and had just seen something that made me lose complete control over my emotions." Kakashi silently refused to elaborate on just _what _that was. "Before they finally managed to calm me down, I had nearly _killed_ Minato-sensei and Jiraiya-sama. I didn't actually injure them, but if they had been any slower, I would have."

Naruto reeled, shocked by the revelation. He had known for a long time that Jiraiya had nearly died from injuries only twice in his career (Naruto had to force himself from getting lost in guilt over event number two, knowing that now wasn't the time for it). However, since life-threatening situations were practically part of the job description of being a ninja, Naruto had always figured that if situations had gone differently, the perverted sannin would've had a longer list. To know that Kakashi could've been the cause of one, especially at such a young age, surprised him more than he ever thought that it would.

Before Naruto could say anything, however, Kyuubi stated his opinion, almost grudgingly, about what Kakashi had said. "That doesn't surprise me one bit. I've battled many white chakra users before, and gained a fair amount of knowledge about its power. But not one of those humans could even compare with the amount of _sheer, raw power_ that your White Chakra reserve has, Kakashi. Your normal reserve may be nothing compared to Naruto's, as you told him weeks ago. However, your bloodline could offer a better comparison." He growled slightly under his breath, thinking, _And I can't believe that I'm saying this about a _human_, of all things._

The two humans found themselves thinking along similar lines, hardly able to believe that Kyuubi would say something almost complimentary like that.

"That's weird, coming from you," Naruto said. "But how exactly do you know that?"

"Hmph. There's not much to do here but examine your chakra. These pipes that represent the chakra coils," he gestured to the glowing pipes on the walls with a tail, "come in here for a reason. Much of the source comes from inside here, so it's not hard to see it whenever I want, though I certainly can't do anything with it. I grew bored of yours, brat, years ago. Cyclops's gave me something different to look at these past couple weeks.

"But to go into detail about that would be getting completely off topic, and it would go entirely over your head, anyway," Kyuubi said, shaking his head and flicking his tails flippantly. Almost as an afterthought, though, he briefly added to Kakashi, "I'll want to talk to _you_ about it later though, without the thick-headed idiot here.

"Anyway," the fox continued, before Naruto could make any kind of protest to the insult, "the point you need to understand, Naruto, is that White Chakra is a very powerful bloodline, even if there is only one user left in this world, and if used improperly, can be very dangerous. Not just to the victim, but to the user as well. By now, you should have enough to answer the questions you had. Now, like you were complaining about earlier, we're all tired, so both of you get out of here, and don't bother me anymore."

Without further ado, Kyuubi forced them back to the 'front' of their mind, waking him up.

Narashi sighed. "I hate it when he does that."

'_And what the hell did he mean 'don't bother me anymore'?'_ Naruto grumbled. _'He was the one who forced us there in the first place.'_

'He's just doing what he does best, Naruto. Irritating others.'

There was silence for a few minutes, before Naruto said, _'Hey, Kakashi-sensei?'_

'Hm?' Kakashi indicated that he was listening. Silently, he hoped that this didn't have anything more to do with White Chakra, but it was a faint hope.

'_What were...' _Naruto asked, tentatively, knowing that this was a sensitive topic for Kakashi, but still needing to know. _'What were the other two times?'_

A sigh. '...The second time was during Kyuubi's attack, after Rin had...been killed...The third was just before I left ANBU. It's actually what prompted my decision to resign in the first place.'

Apparently Kyuubi had been listening, because he said, with a short bark of laughter, **'Heh. Yes, I remember that, and aside from the actual sealing jutsu, you were the only one of all those little ants to actually **_**hurt**_** me. Not a lot, but certainly more than the others.'** Kyuubi's laughter filled their mind. **'I hope you had time to thank your sensei. It was only his quick intervention that saved you from being **_**eaten**_** in retribution.'**

Kyuubi cut off his connection before either Naruto or Kakashi could respond.

There was another brief silence before Kakashi said, 'Naruto, I know you do understand why I don't use the White Chakra, but there's something else that I want you to consider in my reasoning.

'_What?'_

'...Think of it this way; if you transformed into the four-tails _every time_ you ever accessed Kyuubi's chakra, would you have ever used it?'

Naruto didn't respond. He didn't need to. They both knew what his answer would be to that.

A/N: Sorry if that ending seemed a little rushed. It wasn't where I originally intended to end this chapter, but it was late at night, and I just wanted Kyuubi to stop talking.

As for the White Chakra, everything here is just the general idea I've had surrounding it for a long time now, with various influences, whose sources I can't remember. I know it might seem wierd, but it's what I've had rolling around in my head for a while now, and it just seemed appropriate to explain that here, especially since there were some reviewers who had questions about it.


	11. Start!

Disclaimer: The whole Naruto universe belongs to Kishimoto, not me.

A/N: Gah...it's finally done! This chapter has been a pain in the butt to write. It just didn't seem to want to get written. I knew exactly what I wanted, but I just couldn't get down on paper in a satisfying way. Have any of you experienced that before? :sigh: well, at least it's done. I'm not completely happy with it, but nor am I willing to go back and change it right now.

:yawn: Well, it is very late now (2:15 am) and I am very tired. Hope you all enjoy the chapter. Night, night. :crawls into bed:

Key (quote marks are important)

_thoughts_

_'Naruto speaking'_

'Kakashi speaking'

**'Kyuubi speaking'**

* * *

Chapter 11: Start!

Signing and putting aside another official document, Minato sighed despairingly as he looked at the high stack of unfinished paperwork, which seemed no smaller than it had when he'd started that morning. It was now mid-afternoon, and it appeared as if he had made no progress at all, despite the equally high stack of completed work. As he pulled another sheet off the unfinished pile, he wondered absently just what forest was sacrificed to make the amount of paper needed for all this.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, right before it opened, admitting two chuunin who worked at the office, spending more time handing out missions than performing them. Both of them carried a large stack of papers, which could only be one thing.

"I apologize, Hokage-sama, for disturbing you," the first chuunin said, placing his stack on the desk next to the other one, carefully making sure not to topple them over, the other chuunin doing the same. He pushed his too large glasses up his nose as he continued. "I realize that you must be rather busy, but I'm afraid these need to be finished soon. The mission requests must be ranked and ready by tomorrow, and the reports from today's completed missions should be looked at and filed as soon as possible."

Minato forced a grin as he replied to the chuunin, (who had the appearance of someone who should've been a librarian instead of shinobi). "It's no trouble, Shad. I'll make sure they get done on time, so don't worry about that." As he said this, a part of him started sobbing at the thought of _more_ paperwork. As it despaired, another part violently declared that he would find out just who invented paperwork, then create a time travel jutsu and kill the bastard before he could complete the terrible, heinous deed!

After Shad and his companion left the office with a short bow and were well out of earshot, Minato dropped his head onto the desk surface, whimpering slightly as he contemplated the three large stacks of paperwork. _At this rate, I'll be here all week!_

"Well, damn," a sudden, but familiar voice sounded from behind him. "They've already broken you. And hard, by the looks of it, if a stack of paper can bring a whimper out of _you_."

Minato groaned. "If you're only here to offer sarcastic remarks, Jiraiya-sensei, then take them somewhere else. I'm not in the mood to deal with them." He tilted his head up to glare at the white-haired sannin.

Plopping down onto the couch against the right wall, Jiraiya laughed loudly, ignoring the glare. "I'm just glad that I wasn't asked to be Hokage. It doesn't look like the job it's cracked up to be. Not to mention, I would never have time for my research if I was stuck behind a desk 24/7."

"Oh, please," Minato scoffed, leaning back in his chair, and crossing his arms. "The day you're made Hokage is a day I hope I never see. At the very least, every kunoichi in the village would become missing-nins in protest of the dress code you would no doubt put in place. Or rather," he added, frowning at the self-proclaimed 'super-pervert', "a _lack_ of one."

From the wide, drooling grin, glazed eyes, and perverted giggling, Jiraiya was obviously imagining the possibilities.

Minato felt his eyebrow twitch, the rate increasing at Jiraiya's next statement. "Hehehe. Hey, since we're on the topic, Minato, I was wond-" he was cut off before he could finish.

"Don't even think about it!" Minato snapped out, sharply pulling a sheet off the unfinished pile. "I'm not going to use my power as Hokage to satisfy your perverted needs. You do that well enough on your own by peeping at every bathhouse in the Shinobi Nations."

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Jiraiya grumbled, scowling. "It's _research_, not peeping. There's a _big_ difference. If I want to write a book one day, I'm going to need some _inspiration_. And to get it, I need to do research, plain and simple."

"It doesn't matter what term you give it, it's still peeping," Minato replied, stamping another document with a bit more force than necessary. "Now, is there a real reason why you're here, or do you just want to bug me?"

Jiraiya's face turned from joking to serious in a instant. "Well, entertaining as it is to bug you, there is something I wanted to talk about. ...Or rather, _someone_."

Minato paused in his work, already having a guess as to who his sensei was talking about. Jiraiya took note of this action and continued. "That guy your team brought in a month ago. Hazaki Narashi, I think his name is. I've heard some pretty interesting rumors about him, and I"m wondering if any of them are true." Jiraiya looked at Minato pointedly, as if asking 'well, are they?'

_I knew it._ Minato had hoped that Narashi wouldn't be who Jiraiya had wanted to talk about, but it had been a small hope. Briefly, he considered that maybe Jiraiya would drop the topic and move onto something else if he gave no response. He knew he was about to have the same discussion with his sensei as he had had with many others. But with Jiraiya, it would be different. The man just had a way of getting any information he wanted, and wouldn't stop until he got it.

Normally, Minato would have no problem telling Jiraiya something. His sensei was like a second father to him, and he trusted him with his life. If it were any other topic, Minato wouldn't hesitate in answering Jiraiya's questions (unless, of course, the topic was embarrassing for Minato, and Jiraiya only wanted blackmail material, but that was entirely different).

But Minato had made a promise to Narashi that, unless he had no choice, he wouldn't tell anyone the truth behind his identity. Minato actually agreed with him on that. The knowledge that Narashi was from the future could be very dangerous in the wrong hands. The fewer people who knew, the better.

'_But,' _a small voice in the back of his mind reminded him, _'Narashi did say that it would be fine to tell Jiraiya-sensei the truth._'

That was true, Narashi had said so. But he had also made it clear that, unless it was an emergency, he wanted to be there when Jiraiya was told, or at least notified beforehand. Obviously, he couldn't use the 'no choice' option, and even though he could always send a messenger to find Narashi, Minato wasn't precisely sure where the time traveler was. Vague idea, yes, but the training fields were so vast that it could well be past sunset before Narashi was found and showed up. And in that time, Jiraiya would still be trying to get as much out of Minato as he could. And while he knew that not a word about Narashi true identity wouldn't get past him, he really didn't want to deal with Jiraiya digging for answers.

Minato sighed, knowing that there really wasn't any way out of this. _So, best make sure that I at least keep my promise._

"Jackal!" Minato called, said ANBU instantly appearing before him, kneeling in front of the desk. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, wondering what the ANBU had to do with his unasked questions.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" Jackal asked, his voice revealing nothing of the thoughts behind the canid mask. He nodded briefly to the seated Sannin in respect before turning his attention back to the Yondaime.

"Jackal, could you find Hazaki Narashi and tell him to come here immediately. Jiraiya and I need to discuss some things with him. He'd probably be somewhere in the training fields still, most likely with Kakashi."

Jackal nodded, unquestioning. "Hai, Hokage-sama!" He then departed, knowing that he had no other orders.

After the ANBU left, Minato activated the privacy seals around the room, not wanting to take any chances with what he might end up telling Jiraiya before Narashi arrived.

"Well," Minato said, turning to the other man, who looked surprised at the level of secrecy he put in place, "if you want to talk about Narashi, now we can. Though, I'm not going to guarantee that I'll tell you everything you want to know, not until Narashi gets here, at least."

"Why all the secrecy?" Jiraiya asked, eyebrow raised.

Minato answered with a question of his own. "Would one of those rumors you talked about have anything to do with why I let him become a ninja so quickly?"

Eyebrow inching up a little further, Jiraiya decided to humor his student, knowing that there's a point behind his method. "Yeah, that's actually one of the main reasons why I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to know what was going thought your head when you let the guy become a leaf ninja without so much as a proper background check. He wakes up perfectly healthy after a two week coma, and by dinner the same day, he's wearing a Konoha hitae-ate! Hazaki could very easily be an Iwa spy, and you're smart enough to realize that potential and the danger that it could pose. And his "history" is obviously fake. Even an ignorant genin could see that. So why did you let him join so quickly?"

"The answer is the reason for all the secrecy," Minato said. "You're right, Narashi's _public _story is hard to believe, and is a fake. I'm the only person who knows the truth, and if Narashi agrees when he arrives, you'll become the second." Minato anticipated Jiraiya's next question and answered it before it could be asked. "I made a promise to Narashi that if I had to tell someone the truth, that he would be present, or at least notified beforehand. You know I keep my work, Sensei. If I can fulfill a promise, I will."

Jiraiya grunted. "Yeah, how could I forget that? If I remember right, half the time, those promises lead to huge problems for _me_."

Minato shrugged, grinning, not feeling an ounce of guilt at Jiraiya's statement. "They're your problems then. Don't come crying to me about them." He continued before Jiraiya could give his, no doubt, angry retort. "Anyway, that's beside the point. Point is, if you want answers about why I ignored any and all advice about what I should've done about Narashi, you'll just have to wait. This isn't a 'life or death' situation where there's no time to wait, so you can be patient. Although," he added with another shrug, "if you have other questions that aren't connected to that particular topic, go ahead and ask. I'm not going to guarantee though that I'll answer them."

"I just have one more," Jiraiya said, holding up a finger, "about why you aren't suspicious of Narashi, then I'll go into that other 'rumor' I've heard.

"You said that Narashi told you his whole story. But how do you know that that isn't a lie as well. The need for secrecy could just be an act to convince you that it was truth."

_Geez, why can't everyone give me a little more credit? Can't they just trust me to know exactly what I'm doing and why?_ Minato thought, irritated, before answering Jiraiya. "Because in a ironic twist, what Narashi told me is just so far-fetched that I_ have _to believe him. No sane spy would've come up with something so unbelievable. They would try something that's actually plausible, like leaving their own village and seeking refuge here. If Narashi had told me anything like that, I would've immediately handed him over to that new interrogation specialist, Morino Ibiki, to practice on. I'm not completely ignorant like everyone seems to think. I _did _become Hokage for a _reason_, after all."

"Sorry, Minato," Jiraiya said, chagrined. "It's just that it's hard to understand why you would let someone who appeared practically out of no where-" (_Jiraiya, you have no idea how right you are with that statement_, Minato thought briefly, careful to keep the grin off his face.) "-become a shinobi of the Leaf almost instantly. It doesn't help that you aren't exactly forthcoming about your reasons why. Though I suppose I'll understand sooner rather than later."

Minato nodded. Wanting to move away from the topic of his reasons until Narashi arrived, he asked, "So, what's that other rumor you heard?"

Jiraiya noted the sudden subject change, but didn't do anything, knowing he would get his real answers soon. "Those other rumors I've heard are actually about Kakashi. What you mentioned to Jackal seemed to confirm them."

Minato had an idea what Jiraiya was talking about, but motioned for him to continue anyway.

"Well, first I'd heard that Kakashi was letting his skills go to waste because he was so depressed about Obito. That's what prompted my decision to come back here after losing Orochimaru's trail, so I could kick the brat back into gear." He shrugged. "But when I arrived, I found out that the newly awakened Narashi had already taken care of it. Those two have been training together ever since, apparently. And most surprising of all, Kakashi seems to already have a rather close bond with Narashi, as if they'd known each other for years, instead of a few days." He shook his head incredulously, hardly able to believe it. "What I want to know is _how_? Kakashi doesn't trust _anybody_ that quickly. You know that just as well as I do. He never has, and never will. ...Or, so I thought until recently. So how did it happen?"

Crossing his arms, Minato took a moment to think about his answer. "Really...I'm not exactly sure _why_ Kakashi trusted Narashi so quickly. Especially since he, Rin, and Kushina-chan all gave me the same lecture you just did when they heard that I allowed him to become a Konoha shinobi. So why Kakashi suddenly went from thinking that Narashi shouldn't be trusted so quickly to trusting him so much now, I don't know." _I have a hunch, but I'm not going to say what that is yet._ "There's definitely a genuine bond between them, the both of them, almost like they're brothers."

Minato smiled slightly, remembering the night when he saw the two after a few hours of sparring. "Honestly, though, I don't really think I mind that, either. It's definitely surprising, but it's obviously good for Kakashi. After we got back from..." Minato paused, the memory still rather painful. "Well, Kakashi was really upset. We all were, but Kakashi in particular. He blamed himself for everything that happened that day. I was starting to worry that he would never get over Obito's death, especially since anything I did never seemed to help." He scoffed angrily as he considered his next statement. "The Uchiha Clan itself hasn't been helping much either, with their attitude towards him.

"Anyway, I know that they two only started spending time together after Narashi met with Kakashi at the memorial. I don't know what Narashi said, but obviously, Kakashi needed to hear it, cause he's started to make a turnaround. So whatever Narashi did, I'm grateful for it." Minato smile turned into a grin. "It's been too long since I've seen Kakashi actually happy, and far longer since he's acted his age."

"Woah, woah," Jiraiya interrupted, holding his hands up, staring at Minato with wide-eyed shock. "_Hatake Kakashi_ is actually acting like a teenager?!"

Laughing slightly, Minato answered, "Yes, he is. It's a shock, I know, but it's true."

"Alright, this I have to see with my own eyes," Jiraiya said, slapping his knees, looking ready to charge off. "Think there's still enough time to call Jackal off the search and look for Narashi ourselves? You said Kakashi would probably be with him, so if we hurry, we could still catch a glimpse of the impossible."

"Sorry, Jiraiya-sensei," Minato said, laughing, "but it'll have to wait until later. Narashi's already here." Ignoring Jiraiya's small 'huh?', the blonde Hokage formed a ram seal, briefly turning off the privacy seals. "You can come in Narashi!"

They heard someone heave a sigh outside the door, before it opened, revealing Narashi. As he closed the door behind him, he said to the Yondaime, "You know, chakra-sensing and wards aside, it's actually very weird and a little scary when someone in a room calls out by name to someone who hasn't even knocked yet."

"Sorry about that," Minato replied, laughing slightly, not really sorry at all. He was starting to enjoy creeping people out like that. He then turned a somewhat shocked eye towards Narashi. "But forget about me and my growing quirks. What the hell happened to you?!"

The reason for Minato's shock was obvious. With silver-gold hair dripping, and clothes soaked and sticking to his skin, Narashi looked like he'd just jumped into a shower with his clothes on. A cold one, too, from the suddenly grumpy look on his face.

"Water-dragon jutsu gone out of control," he muttered, sighing. Seeing the inquiring looks the other two shinobi were sending, he elaborated with another irritated sigh. "Kakashi and I were training in field 18, you know, the one with the big lake. I was trying to get him used to using the Sharingan while also constantly expelling chakra to walk on the water. I used a water dragon jutsu, but lost control of it, and it practically drowned us both. Kakashi had reached his limit by then, so we called it quits."

Minato frowned disapprovingly. "Kakashi isn't unconscious again, is he? You know how dangerous that is, Narashi. I've told the both of you to be more careful about that."

Narashi waved Minato's concerns away. "Kakashi is fine, Minato. Our chakras are similar enough that I can safely give him a chakra infusion. All he needs is some good rest, and he'll be up and walking by morning. So no worries."

"But that shouldn't be possible," Jiraiya said, frowning. "The infusion, I mean. Kakashi's chakra is too unique. There's no way that you two could have similar chakras. The only way they could be is if you two were related, but Kakashi doesn't have any family."

Narashi looked at Jiraiya with a small smile, briefly thinking about how strange it was to see the Sannin in an actual jounin uniform, vest and all, (either again or for the first time, depending on which half one referred to). He turned back to Minato. "So, you called me here to tell him." It wasn't a question.

"Only if you're willing," the Hokage answered anyway. "It's your secret to tell, not mine, so I won't force you."

"I don't mind," Narashi said, shrugging. "Besides, if there's anybody I'd trust completely with this, it'd be Jiraiya. This is a little sooner than I expected to tell him, but it's probably better that he knows sooner rather than later anyway.

"I can tell him myself, though. It'll be the exact same that I told you, so you don't need to pay too much attention." When Minato looked as if to protest, Narashi pointed at the stacks of paperwork on the desk, grinning. "By the looks of things, you have too much work to do right now to be focusing on something else."

Minato jumped, looking at the paperwork piles as if he'd completely forgotten they were there. Then he looked as if he wanted to cry when he realised once more just how much he had to do. The other two shinobi burst out laughing.

"It's not funny!" Minato yelled at the two, dropping his head onto his desk with a 'thunk'. "Paperwork is pure torture! Give me a deep, dark cell and a sadistic jailor any day. Anything but this!"

'**If I was the sadistic jailor, and saw this, I'd give him a mountain of papers to do and get just as much enjoyment from it. Haha!'**

Still laughing, no longer from just Minato's reaction, Narashi asked, "Hey, Minato, wouldn't it just be easier if you used kage bunshins to help you do the work? I mean, they _do_ know everything you know, and you learn everything they do. So it'd be the same as if you did it all yourself, just done faster."

There was a moment of shocked silence before Jiraiya turned to Minato with a flat 'you're an idiot' look. "You know, Minato, genius you may be, but sometimes, you can be a real blockhead."

Minato didn't say anything in response, only formed the proper seals for the jutsu, creating two clones on either side of him.

The one on the left instantly turned to Minato with an expression identical to Jiraiya's. "Sensei is right, you really _can_ be a blockhead sometimes."

"Yeah," the other clone said, then pointed at Narashi. "To think that after nearly a month as Hokage, you still had to wait for someone else to point out the obvious solution." He scoffed, shaking his head in a disappointed manner.

"Oh, shut up, the both of you," the original Minato said, sitting up and glaring at his two clones. "You know what to do, so get to work. The sooner this is done, the sooner I can go home."

Grumbling, the two clones grabbed one of the stacks, before taking a seat at the low table next to the wall opposite Jiraiya.

"Kage Bunshins," Narashi said, chuckling as he plopped down on the couch next to the other shinobi. "The jutsu that gives new meaning to the phrase 'talking to yourself'." Jiraiya laughed in agreement, while the three Yondaimes sent a glare at him.

"Well," Narashi said, ignoring the glares and turning to the Sannin, serious once more, "if you want to know the full explanation, better to start now."

The explanation didn't take as long as it had with Minato. Narashi, of course, did most of the talking, with Jiraiya asking only a few questions for clarification on what Narashi said. Mostly, though, the Sannin sat quietly, listening carefully to what he was told, face expressionless.

When Narashi finished, there was a long moment of silence as Jiraiya took in the information he'd been told, while Narashi, and even the three Minatos, who paused in their work, waiting for Jiraiya's reaction.

Finally, he said, "So let me get this straight; You're from seventeen years in the future, and have absolutely no idea how you got here, or how to get back." Narashi nodded. "You're actually two people, one of whom is the thirty-year-old Kakashi, who were fused together somehow during the trip from future to past." He nodded again. "In a year, the nine-tailed demon fox is going to attack the village, for seemingly no reason whatsoever." Nod. "And in order to defeat it, the Yondaime Hokage, my student, the very man sitting right in front of us, uses a self-sacrificing jutsu to seal the Kyuubi away." Another nod. "Am I forgetting anything?"

Narashi though about that for a second. "Nope. That's about it," he said, shaking his head and shrugging.

"I see." Jiraiya sat silently for a few seconds before turning to Minato with a wry grin.. "I know what you meant now when you said 'so far-fetched that I have to believe it'." Minato only grinned back, nodding.

Narashi just laughed at that statement. "So, you actually believe me?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Yeah, I do. Crazy as it is, it does explain a bit. Particularly why Kakashi seems to trust you so much and how your chakras are similar. You _are_ him, so of course that would be the case." A strange grin spread its way across his face, sending shivers down Narashi's spin, though he couldn't explain quite _why_. "I just have one question I want to ask you."

Still nervous about the grin, Narashi said, "What?"

"You've already explained that half of you is Kakashi. But it's your other half I'm curious about. So," the grin widened, "what are they?"

Narashi was about to tell Jiraiya that he wasn't going to tell anybody who his other half was when he paused, his brain catching up with exactly what Jiraiya had said.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The next second found Jiraiya on the ground with a goose egg bump on his head, seeing nothing but stars as Narashi stood over him in an embarrassed rage, yelling, "I'M A GUY, YOU STUPID, PERVERTED SAGE!!"

He tried desperately to ignore Kyuubi's roaring laughter in the back of his mind.

While this occurred, Minato's clones had smacked their foreheads so hard that they caused themselves to dispel form the force. This left the original Minato clutching his head, exasperated at his sensei. _Bad mental image! Bad mental image! Oh, ow, ow, ow, ow. Too much information to the brain! Too much information! OH, DAMN YOU, JIRAIYA!_

Narashi sighed angrily, nostrils flaring, while muttering, "I swear, I hate him so much sometimes." Needing a change of subject, fast, Narashi forced a grin on his still red face, and looked at Minato. "So, are you ready for tomorrow?"

"Huh?" It took Minato a moment to push aside the image Jiraiya's comment caused. When he did, he managed to realize what Narashi was referring to and why. He grinned, answering. "Of course I'm ready. I've been ready since the agreement was made. What about you? You're the one who needed these past couple weeks."

Narashi grinned ferally. "You are going down, _Hokage-sama_."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day, six people gather at one of the lesser used training fields, which was equal parts grassy field and dense forest, with a stream running through each. The sky was clear, with few clouds to block the mid-morning sun.

"Now remember," Jiraiya said, standing in between Minato and Narashi in the middle of a small field. Kushina, Rin, and Kakashi were standing at the forest edge behind Jiraiya. The former two were there for medical and moral support, while Kakashi and Jiraiya were just looking forward to the upcoming fight. "This is supposed to be a friendly match to determine Narashi's shinobi future. So be good kids and don't try to kill each other. Of course, this being a shinobi battle, dirty tricks and traps are a must, and close calls a given. So don't hold back on that aspect!" Jiraiya added with a grin.

Minato and Narashi glared at the sannin acting in as referee. "Just get on with it, Sensei," Minato ground out, his patience with the man worn thin.

"All right, all right," Jiraiya relented, he raised his hand, prepared to signal the start of the anticipated match between the two.

"Ready."

Muscles tensed, prepared to move in an instant.

"Steady."

Jiraiya grinned once more, before he brought his hand down in a fast chop, jumping back to join the other observers."

"Start!"

* * *

A/N: Oh, umm, just so it's clear; what Jiraiya said was just a joke to get a rise out of Narashi. He wasn't being serious.


	12. A New Technique

Disclaimer: I can only wish that I owned Naruto. Unfortunately, Kishimoto holds that right.

A/N: Ok, I'm admit, I'm a little disappointed. Not in the chapter, or any of you **wonderful** readers, but in myself. I had been hoping to get this out last Friday (and to those I said that I would, I apologize), which was the day that this fic turned 1 (yay!). I did really think that I'd make it, since this was already partly written when 11 was put up and it was coming out on paper sooo quickly. But oviously that didn't happen.

:sigh: Oh well, life goes on. And, "late" or not, the important thing is that this is _still_ out in record time, as well as being a whole 18 pages and over 8000 words (**not** counting A/Ns), making it the longest chapter yet.

Now, scroll down, sit back, and enjoy. :)

Key (quotes ARE important)

_thoughts_

_'Naruto speaking'_

'Kakashi speaking'

**'Kyuubi speaking'**

**_'combinations - 2 or all speaking'_**

* * *

Chapter 12: A New Technique

The instant Jiraiya jumped back, the two shot towards each other, like two springs that had just been released. Narashi immediately created about two dozen shadow clones, surrounding Minato in an effort to overwhelm him in a typhoon of kicks and punches. The Yondaime proved to be more than a match for them though, and managed to destroy nearly half the clones in a very short time, using his speed to evade Narashi's clones' attacks and strike them with enough force to destroy them.

Recognizing the technique that the fox demon was using, Kakashi smirked, knowing exactly what would happen next, though he did wonder what Narashi planned to do after knocking Minato into the air. No doubt he would've learned from when he did the same to him. _Guess I'll find out soon._

Just as he predicted, one of the clones used its tail to fling Minato high into the air, to be quickly followed by two clones, who both punched him in the stomach before he could get over the shock of being tossed by something he hadn't seen., the force of the punches tossing him up higher. The two clones then dispelled just as two more appeared above Minato, kicking him in the back, sending him towards the ground. Four more appeared, to add their own spinning kicks. When Minato was near the ground, the final four clones used their tails to spin him around to meet the original's fist to the stomach, digging him into the ground.

_Looks like he did learn,_ Kakashi thought, actually rather impressed with the combo that Narashi came up with to keep the opponent from retaliating from the air. _If that was anybody else, that would probably leave the victim out cold with a couple bruised or even broken ribs as a souvenir._

When the dust and smoke from the dispelled clones receded, nobody was surprised to see only Narashi standing in the field, a shattered log at his feet. He stood there, carefully looking around for Minato, ears twitching every which way to catch the slightest sound. Kakashi knew from personal experience just how strong the fox's senses were. No matter how many stealth tricks he used to evade the other nin, Narashi always managed to find him in a very short amount of time. And every time, apparently, it was from the sound of his own heartbeat. _Considering that, only a corpse so long dead that it no longer smelled would be able to hide from him. _

_So while Sensei's stealth is excellent, Narashi's senses are too strong to hide from. In fact, it's too late to do anything, because he's already been found. _

To any other observer, Narashi's posture remained the same, eyes constantly moving, body turning to look behind him, and hands hovering over his weapon pouches in case of a surprise attack.

But Kakashi saw something else that completely changed the impression the rest of his body gave.

The ears. No matter where Narashi turned, those fox ears of his remained trained on one spot in the trees almost directly opposite Kakashi. He'd seen that pose too many times not to realize what it meant. Now that Minato had been pinpointed, Narashi wouldn't lose him, not until they collided in battle once more and hid again. The searching turn Narashi was doing was only a cover up to get him into a good angle to aim and fire a barrage of weapons at his target.

The instant he had turned towards Minato's position, he grabbed a handful of shuriken and hurled them towards the branches of the trees where Minato hid. In response to this attack, a few shuriken flew out of the leaves to block the oncoming set, but quickly became a hundred shuriken by use of the 'Shadow Shuriken' jutsu.

Narashi wasn't able to dodge this barrage, and became a shuriken pincushion as a result. The shinobi instantly poofed out though, revealing himself to have been just a bunshin.

As the four observers deftly dodged or blocked the stray weapon that reached them, Kakashi grinned. _Now that they have a measure of each other, the _real_ fight can begin._

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

After creating his army of clones and sending them out to surround Minato, Narashi had used the chaos of his clones to cover up his quick exit to the trees, wanting to hang back a moment and observe how the Yondaime fought. In part, it had been years since he had last seen it so he needed a reminder, and for another, it was the very first time.

Receiving the memories of the near dozen clones that Minato destroyed before one finally managed to toss him, Narashi found himself awed at the reminder of just _who_ he was fighting and why he had the reputation he had at being the best of the best.

'It's been so long since I've seen him fight that I almost forgot just how strong he really is.'

Naruto's voice was awed when he asked, _'He really was - is the greatest, isn't he?'_

'He earned the title 'Hokage' for a reason, after all. We need to start paying more attention though. He's already substituted himself out of that combo, so he could attack us at anytime.'

'**Not if we don't find him first.'**

Blocking out all other sounds, he focused on trying to find Minato's position. He found it just before his clone in the field did. Trusting his clone to come up with the distraction, Narashi quietly sped towards Minato, careful to avoid any traps that the man had already put in place.

He arrived just after the barrage of shadow shuriken had been fired, jumping in with a kunai in hand. Minato turned around on the branch he crouched on, blocking Narashi's kunai strike with his own. The two jumped apart, charging towards each other when they landed on the ground. Minato threw his kunai at the other shinobi, which ricocheted off the one sent to block it.

The two met in a single taijutsu match, the both of them rapidly attacking the other, each trying to gain an advantage. It quickly became apparent that Minato was the better of the two, his superior speed giving him a large advantage over Narashi's slower punches.

_Time to even it out a bit more then, _he thought, jumping back and creating six more clones.

Minato raised his eyebrows at the repeated strategy. "Really, Narashi, you should know better than to try the same strategy twice," he said, easily defeating the clones and charging at the original once more, who had hung back to catch his breath. "If it doesn't work the first time, it's not likely to work the second."

Narashi caught the fist that was aimed at his face, holding it tightly. His own punch was caught in a similar manner by Minato's free hand. The two remained caught in the deadlock as Narashi grinned, responding. "Whoever said that it was the same strategy?"

Minato's eyes narrowed, feeling something odd about this Narashi. When he realized what it was, his eyes widened as he tried to get away, only to be held in place by the grinning shinobi. "Oh, shit!"

The grin turned a tad feral as he said a single word.

"Boom."

OOOOOOOOOOO

After Narashi's clone poofed out, sounds of more fighting started coming form the section of trees Minato had hidden in. The two fighters remained behind the treeline, po the four watching the fight could only catch glimpses of the battling duo.

"From the looks of things, they're just going at it with taijutsu for now," Kushina stated from her perch on one of the overhead branches, legs swinging beneath her.

"It's no surprise," Jiraiya said, sitting cross-legged on a higher branch, spyglass out and pointed towards the fighters. He lowered it to look at the kunoichi as he continued. "This _is_ a fight to test what Narashi's skills are, and to decide what rank he _really_ deserves. They'll probably go through most of the fighting forms; Tai-, Gen-, and Ninjutsu. If Narashi wants to keep that Tokubetsu rank, or receive higher, he'll need to be at least fairly strong in all of them."

"Hm, you know, I still don't understand why Minato-kun gave Narashi the rank right off the bat," Kushina said, frowning slightly. "Every time I ask him about it, he clams up."

"Don't take it too personally, Kushina," the Sannin said, smiling reassuringly. "I'm sure Minato wants to tell you, but, Hokage or not, it really isn't for him to decide who knows or not. It's Narashi's decision, no one else's."

Looking at him in surprise, Kushina said, "You sound like you already know..."

"I was told yesterday." Jiraiya turned his eyes back to the barely visible taijutsu battle. "And I agree with the two that the fewer people who know Narashi's true history, the better. It'd be rather dangerous if too many knew. Being one of the Sannin is probably the only reason I know. So it's like I said, don't take it personally that you aren't one of those who know the truth. That fact that you know there's more is proof that you'll probably be told the whole story later. Just be patient. I know that's a hard concept for you to understand, Kushi-chan, but you just need to try." He laughed as he ducked to avoid the shuriken the red-head shot at him for his last comment, the throwing stars sticking into the trunk of his tree so deep that it would be difficult to pull them back out.

Kakashi, the only one of the four actually standing, (Rin sat at the base of Kushina's tree), remained silent throughout this conversation. He knew that what Minato, and apparently Jiraiya now, knew was only part of all the secrets that surrounded Narashi, just as what he knew about his real form was only a part. He couldn't help but wonder, though. _Just how many secrets do you have, Narashi? And will anybody ever know them all? There's only so long that your secrets can stay that way, after all._

He concentrated his attention back to the fight, which he had been watching with the Sharingan open, not wanting to miss anything. It also helped a bit in seeing what was going on amongst the tree trunks. He could only see blurry figures of chakra, but it was enough to tell who was who, and what they were doing. At the moment, they were trapped in a deadlock. That was when Kakashi spotted something interesting about Narashi's form.

"Sensei's about to get a big surprise," he said with a slight smirk, shocking the other three a bit at his sudden statement.

"What do you mean, Kakashi?" Rin asked.

"You'll see in a second."

True to his word, at that moment, a large explosion went off in the area where Minato and Narashi were fighting, sending dust and leaf litter everywhere. Minato shot out of the dust cloud, obviously from the shock of the blast. He skid and rolled a few time on the ground before he managed to right himself up again, sliding to a crouched stop.

"Hm. You'd think Minato would've been able to see an exploding tag before it went off," Jiraiya muttered, surprised that his student had been caught off guard like that.

"It wasn't a tag, it was a clone," Kakashi corrected. "I've fought Narashi a lot in the past week, and he uses clones frequently in his fighting. He has them perfected to the point where it's impossible to tell the difference between the original and the clones. And it's not just shadow clones he uses. He uses the exploding clones just as often, hiding the distinct signature those clones have until it's too late. I've been attacked by them often enough, though, that I'm starting to tell the difference between them before they go off, at least a little. Sensei got caught in that trap, and realized that he was next to an exploding clone too late."

"Huh. I'll have to keep that in mind in case I ever fight the guy," Jiraiya said, still looking a little surprised, though for a different reason. "It's not going to work on Minato again, though. He's not one to fall for the same trick twice. And soon, Narashi will run out of tricks to use. And then Minato will take him down easily," he added satisfactorily.

Kushina looked at Jiraiya suspiciously. "You say that as if you're really hoping Minato-kun wins, even though you just explained that this was just a test. Why are you so eager to see Minato-kun win, hm?

Jiraiya looked rather insulted, though there was a slightly nervous edge to his answer. "Minato's my _student_! Of course I want him to win this fight!"

"Then why do you sound like there's an reward for you if he does?" Kushina asked, glaring at the sannin suspiciously.

"He pulled me aside earlier, and had me take his bet that Minato would win this fight hands down. I disagreed, and said that Narashi would be more difficult to defeat, and that he would probably win in the end. Winner gets 3000 yen," Kakashi said monotonously, as if he had no fear of any kind of punishment for this action, or just didn't care.

"You BRAT!" Jiraiya said, glaring furiously down at the young jounin. "I told you not to mention that to the others!"

Kakashi just looked up at him with his half-lidded 'you think I care' stare. "Yeah, you did tell me not to. I never said that I would actually comply though."

"You didn't have to make it sound like I forced you to take it, though!"

_But you did,_ Kakashi thought, his frown hidden by his mask, before he turned his attention back to the fight, not wanting to watch Kushina's anger explode.

Jiraiya looked nervously at Kushina, whose glare had intensified at what Kakashi had said, to the point where he would've been nothing but ashes if glares could kill. Normally, she had no problem with betting, so long as the bet was on daily events (like who would end up being a couple soon, or how long a hyperactive person could stay quiet). To be good friends with the 'Legendary Sucker', one would _have_ to be tolerant of gambling in all its forms.

But she had never been able to tolerate those who bet on the outcome of fights, especially if the fighters were friends of hers. When asked why, she would always say that, not only was it insulting to the underdog, but shinobi fights depended on so many factors that it was impossible to predict the outcome. With the right plan and circumstances, the deadlast in a class could easily defeat the class genius. So anybody who decided to make an outcome bet in her presence would be met by a swift retribution.

Of course, this knowledge had _absolutely nothing_ to do with Kakashi's decision to explain why Jiraiya was so interested in who won this battle. Nothing whatsoever. He just didn't feel the need to keep it a secret, that's all.

While Kushina started yelling at Jiraiya (while still managing to pay attention to what was going on in the field), Rin turned to Kakashi, asking, "Kakashi, why do you think that Narashi will win? I know he's been helping you with the Sharingan and everything, but Sensei _is_ the Hokage. Narashi is certainly strong in his own right, but I doubt he's _that_ strong, especially since he _was_ in the hospital just two weeks ago. Fast healing or not, he shouldn't be at one-hundred percent yet." The disapproval she had for this placement duel was easily heard in her voice. "So what can make you so confidant in him that you'd be willing to give up 3000 yen, even if Jiraiya-sama _had _forced you into his bet?"

After thinking about his answer for a moment, Kakashi said, "You're right, Rin. Logically speaking, Narashi doesn't stand a chance against Sensei. But I've been fighting him all day, everyday for the past week. I've learned a lot about his abilities during that time.

"When Jiraiya-sama said that Narashi would run out of tricks soon, he was wrong. He can't just 'run out of tricks' like Jiraiya-sama seems to think. He has so many up his sleeve, I doubt he even realizes that he has some until the opportunity arises for him to use them. He's a spontaneous fighter. He's constantly thinking about how he can use his surroundings, his allies, and his opponents to his advantage, but he'll end up thinking of a plan that nobody could've ever seen coming. That's just how he works.

"There's a lot more to Narashi than any of us know, Rin, even Sensei or Jiraiya-sama. And he's more powerful than any of us can imagine. Every second, he gets stronger, faster, gains more jutsus in his arsenal. It's not the gradual increase that everyone has. He does it in leaps, as if he's constantly holding back and just releasing another level of his strength."

Rin's eyes narrowed, unable to connect the shinobi her teammate described with the man who was near death only a month ago. No one could be _that_ strong, surely. Seeing Rin's disbelief, Kakashi said, his eyes focused straight ahead with his arms crossed, "Just keep watching, Rin. You'll see what I mean sooner or later." _And so will Sensei, if he hasn't already. If he's still thinking that Narashi is going to be easy to defeat, he's in for a surprise._

_A very big surprise._

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Finally gaining his control over his momentum, Minato crouched on the ground, panting from the shock of the explosion. When he felt the prick of a kunai at his throat, he looked up to see Narashi smirking down at him.

"You're dead," he said, using a common term said to the loser in friendly or training matches. "And with that, I believe round one goes to me."

Minato grinned, though a little forced, chuckling slightly. "Okay, I admit," he said, finally regaining his breath, "you caught me off guard with that attack."

Narashi laughed. "Yeah, well," he said quietly, so only Minato would hear, "my other half _does_ have a reputation of being the number one most surprising ninja. Having a different body doesn't change that. That reputation is still going strong."

'**You forgot 'knuckleheaded' in the description.'**

'That's unimportant right now.'

"Hm, I'll have to keep that in mind then. Now," Minato added, smirking at the other shinobi, "time for Round Two!" He instantly started a set of seals for a jutsu, remaining on his knees.

Recognizing the seal sequence, Narashi cursed, jumping back the moment Minato finished the last seal.

"Doton: Tsukamu Doseki no Jutsu!"

Out of the ground, large hands of rock and dirt appeared, grabbing at their target, more appearing as the previous missed, disappearing back into the earth. Narashi did all he could to evade the surprisingly quick limbs, jumping and rolling around. He managed to avoid the first seven attempts, but his luck ran out on the eighth when he got trapped between two of the rocky hands.

"Gah!" he grunted in pain when they grabbed him, holding tight enough to make breathing somewhat difficult, though not enough to actually crush him.

"Katon: Karyuudan no Jutsu!" Minato said after Narashi had been caught, only adding enough power to burn him, not kill him.

At the sight of the fire dragon racing towards him, Narashi acted without thought as he gathered the necessary chakra.

"Raiton: Kaden!"

Sparks shot out of Narashi's body in a brief, but powerful surge, destroying the rock hands, allowing him to jump away as the fire dragon sped past. Minato kept control of the jutsu though, and sent it careening after Narashi.

_Dammit!_ The targeted shinobi knew that that dragon would continue chasing him until either its creator released the jutsu or it was stopped. _Well, then, better stop it now before it fries me,_ he thought, racing towards the river, dodging the jutsu's attacks.

When he stood on the water, he slid to a stop, turning around as he did so, completing a set of seals.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" He poured as much chakra as he was willing into the jutsu, not wanting to lose control of it again.

The water beneath him churned and swelled up, taking the form of the water dragon. It seemed to roar before it dove down and attacked the fire dragon head on, drenching it and covering the area with steam. Before the cloud could dissipate, a second water dragon burst out of it, larger than the first, with Narashi standing atop its head. Behind the dragon came a huge tidal wave of water, all of it surging towards Minato, who wasted no time in preparing his next jutsu.

"Doton: Doryuu Heki!"

Spitting out a trail of mud at his feet, it only took a brief moment for the jutsu to take effect. A giant earthen wall appeared before him, blocking and splitting the tidal wave of water that hit it with the force of a freight train.

Just before the wave crashed into the shield, Narashi had jumped from the water dragon's head, creating a few dozen shadow clones while in the air. All of them went straight for the center of the wall, attacking it at the same moment with a chakra laden punch. While Narashi couldn't cause the same amount of damage Tsunade or Sakura could cause with a single punch, a chakra punch still had more force behind it than a normal one. Multiply that single punch by about forty, and it could easily cause just as much damage as the sannin or her apprentice could do.

That's precisely what happened when Narashi and his clones impacted with the rock wall. The force created a large hole in its center, large boulders raining down from the destroyed area. Narashi shot out of the dust cloud formed by the destruction like a bullet, aimed straight at the man standing on the ground.

But the Yondaime Hokage was ready for him.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!"

A tornado of powerful winds suddenly slammed into him with the force of a charging bull, knocking the air right out of his lungs. The vortex drove him back into the wall and through it, digging into the muddy ground on the other side.

Minato payed little attention to that though, already trying to pinpoint Narashi's new location. He had seen the plume of white smoke when 'Narashi' hit the wall, meaning that he had replaced himself out again.

_But_, he thought as he spread his senses, looking around, _the fact that he didn't disappear when my jutsu hit him means that he did get hit, and only replaced himself after. Which means that he's probably trying to catch his breath somewhere. Question is, where?_ He grinned. _Ah! There he is! And even better..._ Minato's grin widened. _He's standing on one of _them.

Smirking, Konoha's Yellow Flash proved his namesake and vanished in a golden flash.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Leaning back against the trunk of a tree, Narashi clutched his chest, panting hard and coughing. Demon stamina and healing or not, it didn't matter a bit if he couldn't breathe. And in a rather ironic twist, that wind attack had knocked the wind right out of him.

'_Damn! I knew he was a legend and all, but I never realised just how strong he really was until I actually started fighting him!' Just like with Kakashi-sensei, _Naruto thought to himself. _I'd seen him fight before, and knew what he could do, but it wasn't until I fought him with Sakura-chan that I realised just how strong he really is._

'Trust me, Naruto, Sensei is actually holding back quite a bit. If you think he's strong now, just wait until you see him fight at his fullest.'

'_He's holding back?!'_

'**Of course he is, Baka. This is just a test, there's no reason to go full out. If this was his limit, he wouldn't have stood a chance against me for a second.'**

'We should consider ourselves lucky, actually. Especially since he hasn't used the Rasengan or even the-'

Before Kakashi could finish, or even before he could react, Narashi suddenly found himself on his stomach with Minato sitting on his back, holding him down in the exact same position that Kakashi had put Sasuke in during the bell test three years ago. Only instead of the threatening glare Kakashi had had at the time, Minato had a gloating smirk that his nothing of his satisfied thoughts.

'**...You were saying?'**

A sigh. '...Never mind...'

"You're dead," Minato said, repeating Narashi's own earlier statement, smirking and twitching the kunai at Narashi's throat. "You know, Narashi, I'm a little surprised. Has having two minds blocked out some of your memories to the point where you didn't realise that you were practically sitting on one of my Hiraishin seals? Tsk, tsk."

Narashi's face twitched into an irritated glare. He didn't bother asking when the Yellow Flash had taken the time to place his seals, since it had been he who had suggested this field in the first place the previous night. "I didn't think that you were going to use the Hiriashin, though. And besides, you always camouflage the damn things! Even if I had known you'd use it, I never would've seen it."

"I never said I wouldn't use the Hiriashin no Jutsu. What on earth could give you the idea otherwise?" he ignored the increased ferocity in Narashi's glare. "I'm certainly glad I did use it thought. Made winning this round a _lot_ easier, that's for sure."

"Hmph. Yeah, yeah, you win this round," Narashi grumbled, his head still covered by Minato's foot. Then he sent a smirk of his own at him. "But you wont' get so lucky on Round Three!"

Before Minato could react, Narashi slammed his tail into the other's chest, forcing him off and into the branches of a tree. Flipping around, Minato managed to land on one before he could crash into it. He instantly jumped back to the ground, right before Narashi slammed into it, slicing the limb off the trunk with what seemed to be an invisible sword.

_But that's what makes the wind blade so dangerous, _Minato thought as he created his own blade and blocked Narashi's next charge.

They exchanged a few blows, neither getting a hit in, before locking themselves into a deadlock.

"You're very good to keep up with me, and I'm a master at the wind blade," Minato said, impressed with Narashi's skill with the technique. Anybody would wield a normal sword (though whether they cut themselves or their opponent was another thing), but it took a lot more skill to use an elemental blade, particularly a wind-based one. "I suppose you're mysterious half is the reason?"

"Actually, no," Narashi said, grinning somewhat stiffly. "While his chakra _is _wind natured, he had only just completed his manipulation training when all this happened. He never learned how to use the wind blade, or any sword for that matter."

'_Even though I really want to. Having a sword would be awesome!'_

'**You would kill yourself by swinging like a madman if you ever got one. So do us all a favor and don't even touch one when we get back to our original bodies.'**

'_Hmph!'_

Narashi continued his explanation. "So, no, this isn't one of his techniques. This is one of Kakashi's."

Minato frowned in confusion. _But Kakashi has always had trouble with wind techniques. He can do them, but his lightning affinity has always made it difficult. He certainly isn't good enough with them to use a wind blade. At least not so perfectly. So when would he have learned_?

Narashi's grinned at Minato's confusion, knowing what he was probably thinking. He decided to clear it up for him. "Over the next few years, Kakashi is going to use his Sharingan in nearly every fight he as, trying to learn how to use it properly. This will, in turn, earn him the nickname Sharingan Kakashi, the Copy Ninja, the man who copied and mastered over a thousand jutsus by his twentieth year." Minato's eyes widened, shocked and impressed, as well as proud, at the information of what his student accomplishes. "The wind-blade is just one of those many techniques. While it's true that Kakashi has always had difficulty using it because of his chakra element, that's not a problem for me. Since one of my two primary affinities is wind, I can take his knowledge in Fuuton jutsus, and apply it in any way I wish."

His grin turned into a smirk. "Like this."

Without any other warning, he dispelled his wind blade. Caught off guard and overbalanced by the sudden action, Minato had not time to react before his sword drove deep into Narashi's right shoulder.

Horrified at what he had inadvertently done, Minato released his own blade before it could cut any deeper, but the damage was already done.

Pushing the pain and the furious cursing of a pissed off demon fox aside, Narashi took advantage of the Hokage's horrified shock. "Let's see how you like getting hit," he said, giving him a bloody grin. He then slammed his hands together in a seal, yelling, "Fuuton: Daitoppa!"

Roles reversed, the vortex of wind slammed into Minato and blasted him back towards the main field, the force of the winds tearing the trees in its path apart. Remembering the previous time Narashi had knocked him back to like this, he took no time in regaining both his breath and his feet. Looking up, he saw Narashi charge out of the trees, his injured arm apparently giving him no trouble as he drew a kunai with it.

Charging the kunai with lightning chakra, covering it with sparks, he threw it at the other shinobi before forming a seal. "Raiton: Kage Kunai - Kiden Toami!"

Like a net spreading open, over a dozen kunai separated from the original, lines of sparks threading between each knife to form a deadly net of electricity.

Acting without though, the Yellow Flash took out one of his tri-pointed kunai and threw it out of the attack's path, teleporting himself out of harm's way. The instant he got his bearings back, he kicked up a short wall of hard rock with Doton: Doro Gaeshi, blocking the two fuma shuriken Narashi had thrown. Minato then leapt over the wall, running towards Narashi so fast that he looked like a golden blur.

Narashi jumped over Minato's roundhouse kick, landing behind him and spinning to give his own to his back. Minato turned and caught the foot before it could connect. Using the grip as leverage, he lifted his other foot and kicked the Yondaime in the head. He rolled with it though, ending in a crouch on Narashi's right, completing a set of seals.

"Doton: Tsuchi Sentou no Jutsu!"

Three rock spikes rose out of the ground where Narashi had previously been standing, having evaded being skewered. He didn't stop moving, though, as four more joined them. He continued jumping backwards, avoiding the spikes as they formed a deadly path of destruction in his wake. When he reached the forest edge, he jumped up and knelt on the trunk of a tree, just out of reach of the final set of spikes, which slammed into the tree's base.

Hearing the cracking and groaning of splitting wood, Narashi leapt down and carefully stood on the tip of one of the rock spires.

"Raiton: Rairyuudan no Jutsu!"

Sparks flew from his hands, combining into the serpentine body of the jutsu. It flew through the rock spires, shattering them into jagged pieces as it careened towards its target, who prepared his own jutsu to block Narashi's.

"Fuuton: Fuuryuudan no Jutsu!"

Cyclonic winds blew as the dragon took shape, flying to intercept its counterpart. They collided head on with a roar, the resulting explosion sending up a gigantic dust cloud that blocked all sense of sight.

When the dust finally cleared, Narashi and Minato stood twenty feet apart in the center, on opposite ends of the shallow crater formed by the elemental dragons' collision. Each stood motionless, staring the other straight in the eye. In that look, an understanding was reached by the two.

The next attack would be the final strike.

Once decided, they moved simultaneously, each preparing their final jutsu.

Minato already knew what he would use. The Rasengan. His strongest attack was the only one this fight's finale deserved. It wasn't long before he held the spiraling sphere of chakra in his right hand. The action was so ingrained into his memory that it was like breathing now.

When he saw the jutsu that Narashi had formed though, he almost lost complete concentration on maintaining his own, his eyes widening in shock.

_No way..._

OOOOOOOOO

The four observers gasped when they saw Narashi's technique, eyes as wide as saucers. None of them could believe what they were seeing. Kakashi especially.

"That's impossible!"

OOOOOOOOOO

Throughout the entire battle, Narashi had dimly been aware that his body sometimes acted without him needing to even think about it, doing things that he hadn't been sure he could do yet in this body. He hadn't thought too much about it, knowing that it was common for instincts to take over in the heat of the moment sometimes. Like if he heard a kunai coming towards him, he would dodge or block it without a second thought, no concentration required. It was just a simple fact of life for all shinobi. And those instincts would take any knowledge they had to do what was required, which explained how Narashi had been able to do some jutsus that he hadn't practiced before in this form.

But..._never_ had this experience been more obvious than when Minato formed his Rasengan. His body moving without any actual thought on what to do, Narashi could only watch as he moved, distinctly feeling as if he had been shoved aside and taken over.

Placing his hands in front of his chest, left over the right, Narashi's concentration increased as he focused only on his jutsu. Chakra started to collect between his palms, swirling and spinning faster and faster until a Rasengan was formed. Then, with a snap that echoed across the field like thunder, sparks flew from his fingertips, collecting in the sphere's center, sparking and jumping like a candle flame. Then, a louder crack of thunder shattered the air as a large bolt shot out of his palms, creating a ring of light around the sphere. This repeated three more time until four rings wrapped around the Rasengan, constantly rotating, while at the same time, remaining fixed to their positions in relation to the other rings. Sparks flew from the center spark, attaching to each of the rings, causing bolts of lightning to shoot from one ring to another, filling the air with the sound of constant thunder, and almost creating another sphere of electricity around the chakra sphere. When he removed his left hand from over the jutsu, the bolts grew in intensity, increasing in size.

Only one phrase rang through his mind, which he said aloud as soon as it occurred to him.

"Raiton: Senten Hyakurai."

It felt like it had taken over ten minutes to form, but in reality, barely a minute had passed. In that short time, he had created a completely new jutsu, something that shouldn't have been possible. A perfect combination of Raikiri and Rasengan. A fusion of elemental and form jutsus that should have taken _years_ (or weeks with the Kage Bunshin method) to learn and perfect. He had no idea how he had done it, but he had.

Shocked as he was at seeing the technique in Narashi's hand, Minato soon got over it, knowing that this was no time to be gaping. He crouched down slightly, ready to charge, while pumping as much chakra as he could control into the Rasengan, nearly doubling its size. He knew he would need every ounce of it if he hope for it to stand even a chance at blocking _that_.

At a silent signal, both Narashi and Minato charged. They met in the center, their jutsus colliding, each fighting for dominance over the other. Time seemed to slow as the two shinobi fought to keep control of their jutsus. The powerful attacks, though, couldn't handle the pressure being caused by the other and reacted accordingly.

The jutsus collapsed upon themselves, their power released in a deafening explosion. Hurricane-like winds blew in every direction, nearly knocking the other four ninja off their feet. They braced themselves with chakra, covering their faces with their arms.

When the wind and dust finally settled, they all looked around, trying to figure out what exactly happened.

The first thing they noticed was the deep crater where the attacks had met and exploded. Fifty feet in diameter and just as deep, with large slabs of rock throw up at the edges, creating a jagged barrier.

"There's where it happened," Jiraiya said, looking around. "But where's-"

"Minato!" Kushina gasped, running towards a dust covered figure laying on the ground about fifteen feet from the crater's right edge. He started moving when Kushina knelt down next to him.

The Sannin sighed in relief. "Rin," he said, turning to the medic, "go and check on him. Kakashi and I will look for Narashi and make sure he's okay."

"No need," Kakashi suddenly said, pointing. "I've already found him."

Narashi started sitting up as Jiraiya and Kakashi quickly approached, Kakashi asking, "Are you okay?"

The addressed shinobi groaned, holding his right arm. "Yeah, I'm fine. My arm's a little numb, but feeling's already staring to come back." He suddenly seemed to remember something. "Where's Minato?! Is he okay?!" he asked, looking at them frantically.

"He's over there," Jiraiya answered, nodding to where the other three were. He then cupped his mouth, yelling, "Rin! How's he doing?"

Minato answered instead of the medic, waving his arm. "I'm OK!"

Rin pulled his arm down sharply, obviously having told him to hold still. "He has a few burns from the jutsu, but they aren't serious, so he should be fine," Rin yelled over to the three shinobi, answering Jiraiya's question.

"That's good," Narashi sighed, relieved that this new jutsu hadn't caused as much damage as the Rasenshuriken could've.

"Hey, Narashi, what the hell was that technique?" Jiraiya asked, glaring slightly. "If you knew that it could potentially be so dangerous, why did you use it?"

"That's the thing, I didn't," Narashi said, looking down at his hand, trying to understand what had just happened. "I have _never_ used that technique before now. Not even in trying to create it, which I hadn't tried to do."

Jiraiya and Kakashi looked at him incredulously. "Are you serious?!" Jiraiya asked disbelievingly. "Are you telling me that you _just now_ created that jutsu?"

Narashi nodded. "I know it's impossible," he said quickly before either of the other two could say anything. "A jutsu like that should've taken years to create, if it was even possible to do so. But I'm being completely honest when I say that I _did_ just create it in under a minute, using a jutsu I shouldn't even know as the basis for it. I don't know how I did it, but if I figure something out, I'll let you know."

He waited for the other two to say anything else, and when they didn't he asked, "Now...could one of you help me up? I'd like to make sure Minato's ok myself."

Kakashi took Narashi's hand, helping him climb to his feet. The three made their way over to where the other three were, carefully avoiding the edge of the newly formed crater.

As they walked, Narashi was trying to come up with a reason for how that happened.

'**Instincts.'**

'_What?'_

'**It was your instincts that created that jutsu. When Namikaze formed his Rasengan, the two of you instinctively, automatically, tried to create your own jutsus that could match its strength; the Rasengan and the Raikiri. Your body simply reacted to the dual impulses, inadvertently combining the two jutsus together, taking what you, Kakashi, already knew about lightning manipulation, and what you, Naruto, learned when you created the Rasenshuriken. Take all those factors and put them together, and you have the Senten Hyakurai.'**

'_I guess...that makes sense.'_

'We need to make sure that it doesn't happen again, though. I don't want to know what could happen if something like that happens again.'

'_Yeah.'_

'**Agreed.'**

When Jiraiya, Narashi, and Kakashi walked up to the other three, Minato sat up, despite the obvious disapproval of the two kunoichi next to him. He grinned up at Narashi, though with an obvious question in his slightly wary eyes. "That was one hell of a jutsu! Never saw that coming."

"Yeah, well, neither did I," Narashi said, smiling, relieved that the Yondaime really was just fine. "I just did the impossible, and created that jutsu from scratch in under a minute."

Minato blinked. "What?! You gotta be kidding me!" he said incredulously. He'd been trying to create a similar jutsu for years, without any success. So it was hard to believe that a jutsu like _that_ could be created so quickly. Briefly, he wondered if maybe it was just a cover up, if a rather weak on, to keep his future knowledge a secret. But one look at Narashi's eyes told him that wasn't the case, and that he really _did_ just create that jutsu.

"Like I told these two," Narashi said, pointing to Jiraiya and Kakashi. "I have no clue how it happened. My body just moved on its own. But if I figure something out, I'll let you know." The brief look he sent at him conveyed that he already had an idea and that he'd tell him later.

Minato nodded. "All right, then, I guess I'll just have to accept that. If you're willing, though, I'd like you to try and replicate that jutsu again later. I want to see just how it works. Maybe it'll help me figure out how to get past my own hurdle." He frowned when he thought about his failed attempts at combining his wind element to his technique.

He grinned, though, when he suddenly remembered the real reason they were all there, which had been pushed aside by the shock of the ending attack. "Oh, and Narashi?"

"Hm?"

He stood up, with some help from Kushina, and held out his hand, grinning. "Congratulations on the rank of jounin. I'm sure you'll easily fit right in with the rest."

Narashi laughed, taking Minato's hand. "I'm sure I will, Minato, and thank you." His grin then took on a teasing and slightly evil edge as he remembered something. "I told you I'd win Round Three."

Releasing his hand, Minato groaned, albeit grudgingly. "Dammit," he muttered under his breath. He glared at Narashi, though his rueful grin took most of the edge off of it. "Since you were walking while I was still laying on the ground, I suppose you did win."

Laughing once again, Narashi was just about to respond when he was cut off before he could start.

"What's with that hand?!" Jiraiya shouted as he looked at Kakashi in incredulous anger. Jumping at the sudden yell, they all looked at the two to see Kakashi holding his hand out to Jiraiya, palm up, as if waiting for something. To the members of Team Minato, it was a very familiar sight.

"You know what," Kakashi said impatiently. "We had an agreement. Now hand over the money you owe me. I know you have it."

Jiraiya grumbled, but did reluctantly take out his wallet and give Kakashi 3000 yen, while Kushina and Rin started laughing as they realised what Kakashi was talking about. It didn't take long for the other two shinobi to catch on.

"You two bet on us?!" they shouted at the same time, glaring at the two perpetrators, who didn't even bother to look guilty. Minato turned to Kushina in shock. "And you let them?!"

She shrugged, though she did glare slightly at the two betters. "They had already made the bet by the time I found out. I did yell at Jiraiya about it though, don't worry about that. I left Kakashi alone at the time, because he had apparently been forced into it by Jiraiya."

"I did not!"

"Yes, you did."

"Anyway," Kushina continued, ignoring the other two, answering the Minato and Narashi's unasked question, "they made the bet about which of you would win. Jiraiya bet in favor of you, Mina-kun, while Kakashi said that Narashi would be the winner, instead. Winner would get 3000 yen."

They blinked in surprise at the information, before Minato glared at Narashi. "You're corrupting my student." Before Narashi could reply, he turned to Kakashi, a (semi-fake) betrayed look on his face. "And you're a traitor, Kashi-kun. I'm you sensei. You're _supposed_ to bet in favor of me, not my opponent. Don't you know that?"

Kakashi shrugged, completely unconcerned about Minato's words. "Yeah, you're my sensei. But that doesn't matter, nor does it mean that I _have _to bet on you. Especially when I know that it's the wrong bet to make." He shrugged again, smirking. "I just have it on good authority that Narashi is actually stronger than he looks, that's all. I just did what any sensible shinobi would do and went for the obvious choice of winner."

"OBVIOUS?!" Minato roared incredulously, feeling of betrayal increasing.

Narashi laughed loudly. "Well of course, it was obvious that I would win, even if you are Hokage. I am, after all, much stronger than I...hey, wait a minute!" He turned to Kakashi angrily, glaring at him. "What the hell do you mean by 'stronger than I _LOOK'_?!"

"Exactly what I said," Kakashi answered with a smirk as everyone else started laughing. "There's no denying you're strong, but you certainly don't look the part."

"Why, you little BRAT!" Narashi lunged for Kakashi, grabbing at him. But before he could, the young jounin jumped up and landed briefly on Narashi's still injured shoulder (Kyuubi had managed to stop the natural demon healing when Narashi was no longer at risk of bleeding to death. There was still a bad slice there, though, and it hurt). Pushing down, he overbalanced Narashi, causing him to fall to the ground on his stomach, while he had jumped off, landing on the ground behind Narashi. He looked down on the demon shinobi with a satisfied smirk, and if he didn't have a mask on, he probably would've been tempted to stick his tongue out.

Glaring at the jounin, Narashi gripped his shoulder, muttering curses under his breath about 'annoying brats' and 'healing-depriving demons'. He then grinned evilly, having the perfect retribution for the former. Before Kakashi could react, he was flipped upside down by Narashi's tail, then dropped rather hard. He sat up quickly, clutching the back of his head in pain.

Minato stared hard at Narashi. "Ok, I seriously want to know how you do that. I was hit twice by whatever that is, and I want to know what it is."

"That's for me to know, and you to be patient for," he replied in a slightly sing-song voice as he got up, saying that he wasn't going to tell Minato at this time, but that he _will_ know someday. The Hokage didn't like it, but he decided to leave it alone, trusting that Narashi had a good reason. The newly official jounin turned to his younger counterpart, who was still clutching his head with Rin hovering over him, hands starting to glow green. "Oh, stop whining you, you had it coming, and I didn't even drop you that hard."

Kakashi glared up at him, growling out "You dropped me on a rock!"

"Of course I dropped you on a rock," Narashi said in return, eyebrows raising in amusement. "The Earth is just a big hunk of rock floating in space. So how can I _not_ drop you on a rock?"

"You know what I meant!"

Narashi was once more interrupted before he could reply.

"Geez, Minato," Jiraiya said, turning to the Hokage in amused disbelief. "I didn't believe you when you said that Kakashi acted like a kid around Narashi, but you were right! There is a teenager behind that ice cold exterior, and it's the newcomer that brings it out!" Minato, Kushina, and Rin started laughing at this, agreeing with the Sannin, who quickly joined in on the laughter.

The other two shinobi just looked at them in confusion, wondering what exactly they found so funny.

* * *

**Jutsus (in order of appearance):**

**Bunshin Bakuha: **The exploding shadow clone that Narashi used on Minato. Not actaully named in this chapter, but still done.

**Doton: Tsukamu Doseki no Jutsu: **Earth Release: Grip of the Stone Hands Technique. Had to use a translator on that one, so it's just a rough translation.

**Katon: Karyuudan no Jutsu:** Fire Release: Fire Dragon Technique.

**Raiton: Kaden: **Lightning Release: Electric Charge. Another made up one. And NO, it is not Sasuke's Chidori Nagashi. That's not only larger and more powerful, but also stays around the user longer it seems. The Kaden is just a short charge that extends from the body about 6 inches. Good for a quick shock to an enemy or release from a trap, but not much else.

**Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu: **Water Release: Water Dragon Technique

**Doton: Doryuu Heki:** Earth Release: Earth Release Wall

**Fuuton: Daitoppa: **Wind Release: Great Breakthrough. Same thing Orochimaru used during 2nd test to separate team 7.

**Hiraishin no Jutsu: **Flying Thunder God Technique

**Kazeken: **Wind Blade

**Raiton: Kage Kunai - Kiden Toami: **Lightning Release: Shadow Kunai - Electric Net.

**Doton: Doro Gaeshi no Jutsu:** Earth Release: Mud Overturn.

**Doton: Tsuchi Sentou no Jutsu: **Earth Release: Earth Spires Technique.

**Raiton: Rairyuudan no Jutsu: **Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon Technique

**Fuuton: Fuuryuudan no Jutsu:** Wind Release: Wind Dragon Technique

**Rasengan: **(might as well)Spiraling Sphere

**Raiton: Senten Hyakurai: **Spiral of a Hundred Thunderclaps. Loose translation, but it's better than 'Raisengan'. This one I had to debate over putting in there or not. I really wanted to get in a Rasengan/Raikiri combo technique in, but wasn't sure when. I then thought of putting it as the last move in this fight, and the part of my brain that focuses solely on SC fell in love with the idea. So even though I do think it's a little too soon for it, I hope that the explaination on how they can do it is believable...enough.

The dragon jutsus are awesome. That's why nearly all of therm are there. As for the number of Raiton jutsus...yeah, don't ask me why. Probably because Kakashi's chakra is lightning, so he should know a lot of Raiton jutsus, even though, if my memory is correct, we've only seen him use Chidori/Raikiri. :S

I know zip about yen, but I was trying to go for 30 US being betted.

Well, there you all go. The fight is complete! Next chapter is an omake that I wanted to put up on Friday. It _should_ be up soon. It's already written, I just need to type it and edit it. So look forward to that, everyone! :D

:collapses into bed: I am sooo not writing 18 pages like that again...at least not so quickly...


	13. Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon

A/N: Well, I said it would be up, and here it is. :D Sad to say though, the quick updates end here. Back to normal update schedule (if I actually have one).

This is just something I wanted to do for making a year with this fic. On that note, I want to thank all of you reading this and especially all you wonderful reviewers. You're the ones that kept me going with this crazy idea for so long, which is a first for me, so THANK YOU!

Now, this is an idea that's been brewing in my mind for a long time, but I could never figure out where to put it, cause it's just a funny scene that has no importance to the plot whatsoever. So, I figured I'd put it up like this, as a sort of interlude/omake(though I think it's too long to be considered an omake now). Just something I wrote for my amusement and your entertainment.

Enjoy!

Key (quote marks ARE important)

_thoughts_

_'Naruto speaking'_

'Kakashi speaking'

**'Kyuubi speaking'**

**_'combination - 2 or all three speaking'_**

It was a little past noon when Narashi, Jiraiya, and Kakashi walked into Minato's office with the intentions of either asking for a mission or just to bug him. However, they caught sight of something when they entered that drove those thoughts from their minds.

Sitting at his desk with his head in his arms was a lightly snoring Minato, peacefully sleeping on a pile of unfinished paperwork.

Immediately after realising what he was seeing, the vilest of grins spread across Narashi's face. "Oh, this is too good to pass up," he whispered, voice dripping with mischief. Realising what he planned to do, Jiraiya chuckled, completely willing to go along with it.

"Don't do it you two," Kakashi tried to warn them, though his eye showed the mirth he wasn't trying to hide. But he still felt he had to try. "Sensei will_ destroy_ you."

"Maybe, but it'll be worth it," Narashi replied as he moved to the large bookcase against the right wall, looking for a suitably sized book. Jiraiya did the same on the left wall. "Besides, you can't deny that you want to do this just as much as we do. Ah ha! This one is perfect." The grin widened as Narashi pulled a giant text from an upper shelf titled A Complete History of Konohagakure. It must have been a very detailed account, as well, as the binding was nearly six inches wide. Despite its size, though, Narashi had very little trouble holding it.

"Oh hooo," Jiraiya smirked at the sight of the large book, "There happen to be another one over there, by any chance?"

"Yeah, there is," Narashi answered, nodding toward another book of equal size. "The Rise of the Shinobi Nations."

"Excellent," the Sannin said, pulling the book from its shelf.

The two walked over to the desk, standing on either side, careful not to wake the sleeping Kage. They lifted their books, aiming them for perfect results.

"If you'd be so kind as to count us off, Kakashi," Narashi asked quietly, mischievous grin still spread wide.

The younger jounin sighed, though a hint of a grin could be seen behind his mask. "Why am I doing this?" he muttered under his breath before responding to the other shinobi. "Yeah, just a sec."

He moved over to the door, and turned to the two ANBU standing guard just outside it. "You two might want to move away a bit. You don't want to get caught in the crossfire."

Obviously confused and naturally a little suspicious, the guards looked into the office, seeing the two ninja standing on either side of the sleeping Yondaime, giant books poised overhead, and evil smirks on both faces. They immediately caught on to what the young jounin had meant. For a moment, they stood still, wondering whether they should step in or not. Deciding on the latter, the ANBU quickly moved to opposite ends of the hall; still close enough to do their jobs, but far enough that they wouldn't get caught in any retaliation from the Hokage. And if those three had a death wish, it wasn't their business to stop them.

With them out of the way, Kakashi jumped up onto the ceiling and knelt above his Sensei's head. There was no way he was going to be on the same level as the Hokage when he woke up. That would just be suicide, and he wasn't willing to die that day.

Both Narashi and Jiraiya were looking at Kakashi patiently, waiting for his signal. The younger shinobi held down a hand between them, all five fingers spread, and started counting down.

OOOOOOOOOOO

_Laughing evilly, a dangerous glint in his blue eyes, Minato stared down at his trapped, cowering prey._

"_Paperwork has been a thorn in my side for years, now," he said in a growling voice. "But it has now become a bane of my existence!" He threw out his right hand, charging up a Rasengan. "Now whose fault is that, hm?"_

_The shaking form on the ground whimpered, looking up pleadingly at the towering figure. "B-But I thought th-that it was a good I-idea at the time! S-Something to ch-change the world for the b-better! I-I didn't do anyth-thing wrong! So, please...please don't kill me!"_

_Minato glared down at the whimpering man before him, a crazy, dangerous grin spreading across his face. "It's too late to beg. For what you've created, there can be no forgiveness!"_

_Just as he was about to charge forward to exact his revenge, a loud explosion shattered the air, forcing him to stop and..._

...shoot his head up with a shocked yell, reflexively throwing handfuls of kunai in front of him at any perceived threat.

Gasping for breath, Minato blinked as his tired brain started chugging back to life, finally catching up with his body's reflexes. Looking around, he tried to find the source of the explosion he had heard, but only found an empty office, a line of kunai imbedded into the opposite wall, some having even gone through the open door into the hallway wall. Glancing down, he saw the most likely cause, or rather, causes of the explosion; two extremely large books, both in the perfect spots to be on either side of his head just moments ago, apparently dropped from a distance.

_But who..._ Eyes narrowing, Minato glanced sharply up at the ceiling. His hunch proved to be correct as he instantly saw Narashi, Kakashi, and Jiraiya crouching on the ceiling, two trying to suppress their laughter and the third grinning nervously down at him.

Now that he had noticed them, they dropped down and flipped onto the floor. Once on their feet, Jiraiya and Narashi finally let their laughter out, no longer able to hold it back.

"Oh man, Minato," Jiraiya wheezed out between his laughter. "You should've seen the look on your face! Absolutely priceless!"

The Yondaime was looking down at the two texts that had awoken him, the shadow from his bangs covering his face. "...ten seconds..."

Jiraiya looked back at Minato, still chuckling. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. Too busy laughing, you know. What did you say?"

He looked up at them, a grin on his face that, while physically no different from his normal grins, was so cold that it sent shivers down all their spines. Narashi and Kakashi audibly gulped, recognizing that grin, and knowing that it meant one thing and one thing only.

Pain. And lots of it.

Their panic only increased at Minato's next statement. "I'm giving you all a ten second head start, so you better start running."

Laughing nervously, Jiraiya stepped back, hands raised. "Ah, come one, Minato. It was just a joke, no need to get so mad. Besides, you're secretaries would've-"

"Three," Minato cut him off, standing up, cold grin replaced by a ferocious scowl. "Four. Five."

Jiraiya ran, Minato right behind him, roaring "TEN!"

Narashi and Kakashi were already several blocks away and still running like the hounds of hell were at their heels.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Why on earth are we even doing this?" Jiraiya grumbled, furiously scrubbing another section on the third's nose. "In fact, scratch the 'we'. Why the hell am _I _doing this? I'm one of the great Sannin, an extremely powerful ninja. I shouldn't be doing D-rank crap like this!"

Narashi and Kakashi shared an exasperated glare, having had to listen to Jiraiya's complaining since they had started their "punishment" a few hours ago. After Minato had caught the three of them (which had been considerably easy thanks to his Hiraishin technique), he had set them to work cleaning the Hokage Monument, which had been covered in splotches of paint by an incident that morning involving a clumsy worker and a pile of paint cans (what those cans were doing up there, neither of them knew). When Minato had ordered them to do this, he had made it very clear that it wasn't just paint he was expecting to be cleaned off the faces, and that they couldn't stop until the mountain was spotless (or as much as a mountain could get).

Thankful that the fourth head had yet to be carved, they had each taken a head, and set to work, though not without quite a bit of complaining from each. The younger two shinobi had kept their complaints brief however, and Jiraiya was the now the only one complaining about their situation. But it was starting to get repetitive and annoying to his companions.

"Stop complaining, Jiraiya," Kakashi finally snapped, fed up with the hours of grumbling from the Sannin.

"That's Jiraiya-_SAMA_ to you, Brat!" Jiraiya yelled back at the silver-haired jounin cleaning the Shodai's head. "And I have every right to complain! A great Sennin like myself should not be on cleaning duty like this!" He sighed despairingly. "And I had plans tonight, as well."

The other two sighed once more, scowling.

'Here we go again...'

'_This is the third time we've heard him moaning about this! If only we could make it so everyone could hear him. Maybe then someone can make him finally shut up!'_

There was a pause, then Kakashi replied with a rising sense of deep satisfaction and a quite a bit of mischief. _Naruto's constant presence must be having an effect on me._

'Actually...there _is_ a jutsu that can do just that.'

'_...Really?'_

An evil grin once more spread across his face as the plan grew in his mind. Dropping his rag into the bucket of water at his feet, Narashi began the seals needed for his chosen jutsu. Kakashi, sensing the rise of chakra that signified a jutsu in the making, turned to Narashi to see him start the seals.

"What are you..." He stopped when he saw the grin the fox demon was sending towards the third shinobi. He smirked, guessing what he was about to do.

Ignoring Kakashi, Narashi completed his jutsu. Carefully, he sent it towards Jiraiya, amplifying his voice, while also leaving him completely unaware that the entire village could now hear every word he said.

"I was planning on getting some more research done today. And it would've been the perfect material, too. Tsunade and Kushina were going to be at the hot springs tonight. And then all the other women that would be there." A depressed sigh turned into a small sob. "All that perfect research material, _gone_. The chance forever lost. And..."

Jiraiya trailed off, a familiar prickling on the back of his neck. Unwilling to turn around just yet and face his inevitable doom, he asked his companions a shaking question. "They're all right behind me, aren't they?" Receiving no reply, he turned towards them, wondering whey they didn't say anything. "Brats?"

What he saw gave him his answer. Instead of seeing the two jounins, possible cowering as well from the tremendous force of killer intent behind them, he saw two empty platforms, with a large sign hanging from Narashi's. On it were two different handwritings; a messy scrawl that could only be Narashi's and a slightly better version that he recognized as Kakashi's.

-We're done here, so we'll leave you to finish the rest (and to your fate! HA!). Have fun in the afterlife, Ero-sennin!

-You brought this upon yourself, Ero-jiji.

Hearing the crunch of knuckles, Jiraiya gulped and turned around, finding nearly every kunoichi in the village, as well as a few civilians, grouped at the foot of the mountain. And standing directly behind on his platform were their essential leaders; Tsunade and Kushina, looking like they had just come straight out of a horror film. They were cracking their knuckles menacingly, their eyes gleaming with glares, hair somehow billowing back as if by some invisible wind, and both were suddenly towering over him.

Jiraiya only had time for one thought before Tsunade's fist slammed into his face, tossing him into the horde below.

_If I survive this, I'm gonna kill those two._

OOOOOOOOOO

Minato was once more working on his never-ending paperwork (his soul sobbing as he grabbed another sheet, despairing over the lost dream), when he heard the sound of his Jiraiya's moaning voice fill the air. Still angry at the earlier wake up call, what he heard only served to make him angrier. _That does it! That pervert is going to die!_

He was halfway out of his chair when he felt the intense killer intent of dozens of furious women. He paused, then slowly sat back down, changing his mind on going after his perverted sensei.

When the familiar screams of pain started, he winced, and sent a silent prayer of thanks tot he gods that he hadn't followed his sensei's footsteps, and so had never had this amount of killing intent directed at him. _I guess the saying is true; 'Hell has no fury like a women scorned'. And from the sounds of it..._ He winced when the screaming suddenly increased. _...Hell would be actually be a paradise. _

Pushing the sounds of agony to the back of his mind, (he knew that however angry the women were, they wouldn't go so far as to actually _kill _Jiraiya), he went back to his paperwork. _Anything_ to distract him. Briefly, he hoped that the other two had managed to escape before they somehow got involved in that.

OOOOOOOOOO

Narashi and Kakashi were several blocks away from the mountain's base when Jiraiya's screams of pain, reached them, causing them to stop briefly and look back, alongside every other person on the street.

Narashi cupped his ear with a devious and satisfied grin. "Ah, the screams of a pervert getting what he deserves by a vengeful female population. Music to my ears."

Kakashi shook his head and continued walking down the street. "You're completely devious and evil, you know that, right?"

Narashi moved to walk alongside the younger jounin, replying in a loud voice, "Well, of course I am! It's in my nature to be devious and evil." He waved his tail and flicked his fox ears to emphasis his point, flashing a fanged grin at the other. "What on earth could give you the impression otherwise?"

"I never said that I though you weren't. I've been training and sparring with you for awhile. I know_ exactly_ what you're like." Kakashi threw a sidelong glare at the demon shinobi, who ignored it, remembering particular incidences where Narashi's devious side had been directed at _him_. "I'm just pointing out that what you just did was a prime example of how evil you are."

Laughing, Narashi said, "The pervert had it coming. Besides, it's not like you tried to stop me."

"That's cause I agree that he deserved it," Kakashi said, shrugging. He looked at Narashi inquiringly. "By the way. 'Ero-sennin'?"

"It just seemed appropriate. It's a perfect description, at least," Narashi answered, grinning. "What about you, though? Where did 'ero-jiji' come from?"

"Like you said, it just seemed appropriate that the time," Kakashi said, shrugging. "I used to call him that all the time when I was little, actually, but haven't done it since I became chuunin." He shrugged again. "I've known him all my life, so he is something like an uncle. Just a really annoying, perverted one. Don't know who taught me, but that's what I called him."

'_Huh. I didn't know that.'_

'It's true. Up until I was about seven, I didn't call him anything else. It's the reason he calls me 'Brat' most of the time, actually.'

The two looked back at the mountain with a grimace, hearing the screams reach a new pitch. "I have to admit," Kakashi said, wincing, "I'm glad we didn't stick around to watch. I've already seen one major beating." He shuddered at the memory. "I _don't_ need to see another."

Narashi shuddered as well. "Why do you think I insisted on leaving? I didn't want to watch either."

'That first on traumatized me enough. I don't need a reminder.'

'_OK, now I'm curious, what exactly happened? I've seen plenty of Ero-sennin's beatings, and while those women terrified me at the time, they didn't traumatize me. So what did you see that could traumatize _you_?'_

Kakashi was silent for moment in thought, before he decided to answer. '...You've heard of the time when Tsunade-sama nearly killed Jiraiya, right?'

'_Yeah...'_

'Sensei and I were first-hand witnesses to the event when I was six.'

There was a moment of shocked silence before Naruto finally managed to shake himself out of his shock. _'How the hell did that happen?'_

'Minato-sensei was looking for me and was just unlucky enough to arrive just as Tsunade-sama started attacking Jiraiya...'

'_...And you?'_

'...Jiraiya somehow got it into his head that since I was old enough to become a chuunin, I was old enough to learn about girls. Never mind the fact that I was still six years away from hitting puberty. So in his attempt to 'teach' me, he took me with him on one of his peeping sessions. Being only six, I didn't really understand the point and asked Jiraiya, rather loudly, what we were doing there. That's what caused Tsunade-sama to find us.'

Both Naruto and Kyuubi could practically _feel _Kakashi's shudder. 'My age and ignorant innocence is probably the only thing that saved me that day. Though it certainly didn't help Jiraiya.'

'_...Well, from what I've heard of what she did to him, I guess you do have a reason to be terrified. And it answers my question on why you only giggle over ero-sennin's books instead of with him at the bath house with him.'_

Pushing aside the topic of pervert beatings with a shake of his head, Narashi stretched, saying, "Well, anyway, I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast, so I'm starving. Wanna go get some dinner with me, or are you just going to head home?"

"I don't feel like making something, so sure," Kakashi said, shrugging. "So long as it's not ramen, dinner sounds good to me."

"Tch. Fine. No ramen," Narashi replied, scowling a little. "Well, how about barbeque? I've heard of this new place that I've been meaning to try."

"Hm. That sounds fine. Better than ramen at least. Just don't ditch and leave me with the bill."

"Now, why on earth would you think that I could ever do a terrible thing like that?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

A/N: The idea of Kakashi having seen the near-death beating by Tsunade is just an idea that I've had for a while. Don't know where or when it came from, just that I've been thinking about it for a long time. Figured that I'd add it in, since it seemed appropriate. Same goes for 'ero-jiji' (which, if I have my limited Japanese right, means either 'perverted uncle' or 'perverted old man'. Either way, it works).


	14. The Second Tail

Disclaimer: I wouldn't be here if I owned it, now would I?

_thoughts_

_'Naruto speaking'_

'Kakashi speaking'

**'Kyuubi speaking'**

_**"2 or all three combined"**_

_**

* * *

**_

**Chapter 14: The 2nd Tail**

_A few hours after the fight..._

"So that's what happened," Jiraiya said, rubbing his chin as he considered the information he'd just received, leaning back into the couch he sat in.

Narashi shrugged, leaning against the opposite wall in the Hokage's office. "Pretty much. I don't completely understand how I combined my lightning affinity with the Rasengan like that, when it was wind that was the original affinity, but that's the best theory I have." He glanced over at Minato, who had been quiet for a while now, staring at the his desk in deep thought. Other than the brief exclamation of shock about the Rasenshuriken, he hadn't reacted in any way, and Narashi couldn't help but wonder what was going through the young Hokage's head right now.

"...So it really is possible..." he suddenly murmured, so quietly that Narashi probably wouldn't have been able to hear it without the fox ears.

'_Oh, yeah...he had been trying to find a way to create a technique like the Rasenshuriken for a few years before furball here attacked.'_ Naruto ignored the brief growl from said 'furball' at the nickname.

'Yes. I had been helping him develop it, which is how I knew the theory well enough to teach you. It's also how I developed the chidori, while trying to imitate the method with my own affinity. Of course, I only managed the element. You're the only one I know who's actually completed it; not counting what happened earlier.'

'_Heheh.'_

'**Don't act so proud of yourself. The Rasenshuriken is still far from perfect, as is the Senten Hyakurai. You will need to perfect them much more if you want either of them to be anything praiseworthy.'**

'Leave it, Naruto,' Kakashi quickly interceded before Naruto could respond angrily to the Fox Demon's criticism. 'Kyuubi is right. Both techniques are still incomplete, as they harm the user nearly as much as the opponent. We can talk more about this later, right now, we should focus on the Fourth and Jiraiya.'

'_...Right.'_

Narashi looked over at Minato, just as the Hokage opened his mouth, staring intently at him. Having anticipated what Minato was probably going to ask, Narashi already had his answer prepared.

"No."

Minato blinked at the sudden interruption, taken aback. "I didn't even say anything."

"You were going to ask me to show you how to do the Rasenshuriken I created, right?" Narashi asked, looking at Minato seriously, arms crossed. Receiving a brief nod form the other man, who was starting to frown slightly, he continued. "I can't do that. It's not because I want to keep it to myself (which I do, but I'd make an exception for you as the creator of the original), or time-travel issues. It's just that Fuuton: Rasenshuriken is very dangerous to the user in its current form. I got very lucky when I used it in combat for the first time. If it wasn't for Tsunade-obaachan-" (there was a snort of laughter from Jiraiya at the nickname for the Slug Sannin) "- and Sak-her apprentice, I probably wouldn't be able to use my right arm again for a very long time. I still couldn't for a while. So, until I perfect it so it doesn't hurt the user, I'm not going to show it to you, or anybody else. I'll let you know when I'm done, and show you then, if you still want to see it, but not before."

Minato nodded, somewhat reluctantly, in understanding. He'd been trying to complete the Rasengan for years now, but had never been able to get very far. His theory was sound, but the execution of the technique...well, needless to say, it hadn't gone as well. Everytime he thought he had it, the Rasengan would lose stability and go out of control. So knowing that it really _was_ possible to combine the two made him more determined to complete the technique. He'd hoped that by seeing Narashi perform it, he would be able to figure out the key that he knew he was missing. Watching the creation of the Senten Hyakurai didn't offer much help, as lightning and wind were two very different elements, and so behaved differently. He could see why Narashi wouldn't want to show it to anybody, if it really was as dangerous as he said, but he still felt a little disappointed.

"Well, at the very least, can you answer two questions I have?" Minato asked, resting his chin on his knuckles.

"Depends on what they are," Narashi answered, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. "But, go ahead, shoot."

"Alright, first question," he started, leaning back into his chair, arms crossed. "What effect does the Rasenshuriken actually have, exactly, on both the opponent and you?"

Narashi looked at the floor, thinking about how to phrase his response, remembering what happened after it hit Kakuzu, Tsunade's explanation to Kakashi and Yamato about the autopsy results, as well as his own experience with it. The event seemed so long ago, yet he recalled it perfectly.

Looking at the other two, both waiting for an answer, he told them the same thing that Tsunade had told Kakashi and Yamato, word for word, leaving out only the names.

When he finished, Minato and Jiraiya could only stare at him in shock at the information.

"Incredible..."

"To strike on a cellular level like that is an amazing feat in itself," Jiraiya said, still reeling slightly from hearing how powerful that attack was. "But to be so precise as to slice the chakra vessels in every cell...unbelievable." He shook his head. "No wonder you refused to show Minato. If that's the kind of damage the wind version does, I almost don't want to know what its lightning version could've done."

Minato nodded in agreement. "Yes. I go lucky that the Senten Hyakurai collided directly with my Rasengan. To think that combining shape and element manipulation into one attack could result in something so powerful."

Narashi nodded before looking over at the Hokage. "So, what was you second question?"

"What is the key?" he asked after a moment of staring thoughtfully at his desk.

"Hm?"

"What's the key to combining them?" Minato clarified. "For almost an entire year, I've been stuck on a roadblock. I always have _something_ close to what I'm hoping for, but then it goes out of control before I can stabilize it and make it stronger." He sighed. "Honestly, it's almost like I'm trying to look both ways at the same time. I just know that the key is to figure out how to do that, but it seems impossible. So how did you do it?"

Narashi stared at the Yondaime, before he burst out laughing, amused at the ironic simularity of the situation.

"What are you laughing about?" Minato asked, glaring.

"It's nothing, nothing," Narashi chuckled, shaking his head. "That's just he exact same thing I said while trying to figure it out, that's all. Anyway, the answer is really simple; surprised you haven't figured it out yet." He grinned at Minato. "Just look both ways. That's all there is to it."

He was met by confused looks form both shinobi.

"Just look both ways?" the Toad Sage asked sceptically. "And how does that work out, exactly?"

"It's easy. Look, just watch me." With a poof of smoke, a shadow clone of Narashi appeared right next to him. Both looked in opposite directions away from the other, pointing.

"I'm looking right-," said the Narashi looking right.

"-While looking left-," the left one continued.

"-So I'm looking both ways," finished both at the same time.

Silence filled the Hokage's office after this demonstration, broken only by Jiraiya muttering 'cheater' under his breath.

Narashi ignored him, focusing his attention on Minato, releasing his clone. Said Kage merely stared back, a blank expression on his face. A moment passed before a slow grin started to spread across his face, highly reminiscent of the one Naruto had gotten when Kakashi had doen the very same thing as a joke. Narashi started to grin as well, knowing that Minato had gotten it.

With an excited yell, Minato jumped out of his seat, slapping the desk surface with both hands, grinning.

"That's it!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Narashi barely dodged the gloved fist coming for his face, preoccupied by his thoughts as he was, though he really should be focusing more on the silver-haired shinobi attacking him.

Kakashi stopped his attack, standing up straight as he sighed in exasperation. "That's the fifth time you've lost focus, Narashi. That would be great for me on a mission if my opponent lost his concentration like that, but it's just frustrating in a spar." For a moment, it seemed as if their roles had been switched with that comment.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Narashi sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm just a little worried about what I talked to Minato about after our fight, that's all. Can't seem to get my mind off of it."

He _was_ worried about it, mostly for similar reasons why he hadn't wanted to show them how his version of the Rasenshuriken was formed in the first place. He didn't know what effect revealing the trick to it would have, not just on the timeline, but on Minato himself. That attack was dangerous if used incorrectly, but he had figured that Minato wouldn't use it in the field until he was one hundred percent certain what it would do. And maybe Minato would be able to find out how to avoid the user damage when he completed his own version. Naruto hadn't had much of a choice but to use the Rasenshuriken against Kakuzu, even though it was only halfway complete. If he had had time to complete it, the results would've been very different. Since he had told him the trick to keeping the technique stabilized, he had managed to gain something similar to Naruto's first attempts, with the small blades of wind surrounding the Rasengan, using a single clone to help him concentrate. Jiraiya (before being sent into a women-induced coma) still thought that using a clone was cheating, and would be problematic in a harsh battle situation, though he had conceded to Narashi's point that sometimes, sacrifices had to be made for progress. And with the Rasenshuriken, or any attack like it, which needed one hundred percent concentration on _every_ aspect if it, it was impossible to do so without extra help, like a clone.

"Worried about what exactly?" Kakashi asked, though he already had a vague idea. He'd given up trying to get Narashi to tell him about that attack he'd somehow created, though he had apparently told Minato what he learned about it from performing it since the Hokage had taken any free moment he had (few as those were) to try and combine his wind element to the Rasengan. But there were dangers in doing so, if Narashi's worry were anything to go by. Kakashi remembered how he had mentioned that his arm had been numb after he used the Senten Hyakurai. He'd also noticed that in the days afterward, he'd been clenching and unclenching his fingers as if trying to return feeling to them. If the lightning version could cause that to the user, wind might do much more, being the dominant element of the two.

Narashi shook his head, opening his mouth to answer Kakashi when he heard something that made him pause. Twitching his fox ears, he looked into the forest on his left, trying to pinpoint where the sound had come from. Kakashi, noticing his companion's actions, tensed up, looking in the same direction.

Narashi payed no mind to him, keeping his focus on the unnatural sound he'd heard. Finding it, he quickly recognized the slight rustling of leaves and branches as someone running through the woods, muttering some kind of unintelligible mantra, probably an effort to keep them pumped for a long run. From the increasing volume, that someone was running straight towards their location. Focusing his eyes in their direction, he tried to see who it was before they showed up, managing to only catch a brief glimpse of color through the leaves before it disappeared. But that alone was more than enough.

'Oh no...' Kakashi groaned.

'**I was wondering when he'd show up...'**

Only one person (in this timeline) wore that particular shade of neon green.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

With that cry as their only warning, both shinobi jumped aside just in time as a green blur crashed down where they had been , billowing up a large dust cloud. When it cleared, it revealed a thirteen-year-old Maito Gai, not much different from his older counterpart. Chuunin vest over green spandex, orange leg-warmers, bushy brows and bowl-cut, with a blinding grin and large thumbs-up completing the image.

Narashi needed to close his eyes for a moment, shaking his head slightly as he reminded himself that this was _Gai _he was looking at, not his student form the future.

_Note to self; do _NOT_ call him 'Lee,'_ he thought to himself.

"Kakashi, my eternal rival!" Gai started, turning towards the younger jounin. "I have returned form my mission at last, and imagine my joyous surprise when I find that not only has the one whom your team rescued from death's door awoken, but that it is also _he_ who brought you back from winter's despair into your Springtime of Youth!"

Tears starting to run down his face in rivers, Gai reached out and pulled Kakashi into a crushing hug, who looked as if he wanted to kill something right there and then. Whether that be himself, or the green parasite clinging to him, remained to be seen. Though the smirk on Narashi's face (Naruto and Kyuubi's combined amusement overrode Kakashi's UN-amusement) made him consider adding the fox demon to that kill list.

Gai paid no attention to Kakashi's dangerous mood. "When I had to leave the village those weeks ago, I feared that my absence would only drive you deeper into winter's icy grip. But not only have you persevered, your depressing chill has been thawed! And the one to reveal the sun's warm rays to you is right here!"

Narashi, who had started to step away upon realizing where Gai would likely take this, stopped short when said ninja appeared in front of him suddenly, shaking his hand vigorously in both of his.

"I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. I am Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast and Kakashi's eternal rival; Maito Gai!" he said, grinning brightly. "What is your name?"

Narashi couldn't help but wince at Gai's voice volume in his canid ears, though he vowed to take revenge on Kakashi later when he heard a small 'heh' form the brat's direction. As always, he ignored the brief irony of his thoughts.

"Hazaki Narashi," he replied, forcibly pulling his hand from Gai's strong grip.

"Very nice to meet you, Narashi-san. I thank you for helping my eternal rival in his time of need, especially as I was unable to do so. Your timing could not have been better. To know that your obvious Flames of Youth still burn brightly despite your earlier injuries brings me such great joy! I look forward to working with you in the protection of Konoha!" He finished his speech with a huge grin and thumbs-up, the image of a powerful wave crashing behind him with a beautiful sunset.

'**You ever figure out how he does that?'**

'Nope, and I don't want to know.'

'_Is it genjutsu?'_

'If it is, it's a powerful one, cause not even the sharingan can see through it.'

"_**You actually tried?"**_

'Yep.'

"Gai-san!"

The three shinobi turned towards the trees just as Rin ran out of them, looking rather irritated, closely followed by three others; Shiranui Genma, Yuuhi Kurenai, and Sarutobi Asuma.

Narashi jolted slightly at the sight of this last one, just as he always did when confronted with someone who had died in the original timeline for the first time. Though perhaps because both Naruto and Kakashi had personally known him, and Asuma's death had been the most recent, the jolt was a little stronger this time. Hoping no one had noticed his reaction, or if they did, connected it to the others' sudden arrival, Narashi took a moment to examine his younger companions' appearances.

Unlike Gai, whose only difference was his age, the others had some obvious differences to their appearances. At the same time, Narashi could see some similarities in their styles that stuck as they got older.

Of the three, Genma looked the most similar to his older self. A senbon stuck out of the corner of his mouth; and while his hair wasn't as long as it is in the future, he still used his hitai-ate to hold it back in that backwards bandana fashion of his. He wore the standard ninja sweatpants, along with his chuunin vest over a sleeveless fishnet, with bandages covering parts of his forearms.

Kurenai still kept her color theme of red and white, just with different clothing. A white shirt with red trim and flowing red sleeves that ended just past her elbows, her arms and hands covered in bandages. She also wore dark red capris, bandages covering her ankles. Her hair was still long and messy, but pulled back into a high ponytail rather than left loose, her headband keeping loose bangs out of her eyes.

As for Asuma, he was already wearing the bracelets he wore all the time in the future, as well as the holsters for his knuckle-knives, though whether they were the same ones or a different set, Narashi wasn't sure. He half-expected to see a smoking cigarette in his mouth, though there was nothing there. Like Genma, Asuma also wore the standard dark sweats tucked into bandages. He also had on an open, black leather vest over a long-sleeved, netted shirt. His shoulder-length hair was pulled back into a short tail at the nape of his neck. Keeping with the norm, his hitai-ate covered his forehead.

Finished with examining their new (old) appearances, Narashi turned his attention to Rin as she scolded a contrite looking Gai.

"I understand that you wanted to meet Narashi-san as soon as possible, as well as see Kakashi-kun again, but you could have waited until I finished examining you. You were gone for a month, and even if it wasn't that dangerous of a mission, you still need to be examined and cleared by a medic before running off like that." Rin placed her fists on her hips, frowning at Gai. "Besides, I told you they were probably just training, so you had no reason to hurry like that."

"You're right, Rin-san, I apologize," Gai said, looking at his feet. "But when you told me that Narashi-san had awoken while we had been gone, and that he had helped my eternal rival reach his glorious springtime, I simply could not contain my excitement to see them!" By now, he was looking up, grin on his face, and tears once more running down his face.

Rin couldn't help but sigh ht Gai's enthusiastic response. Shaking her head, she turned to the other two shinobi standing behind Gai, asking, "Are either of you injured? I know how you two can get when you really get into your fights."

Kakashi shook his head. "We're fine, Rin. Wasn't much of a fight, to be honest," he added, glaring slightly at Narashi.

"Hehehe. Yeah, what he said," Narashi said, rubbing the back of his head. "Anyway, some introductions seem to be in order right now." He grinned at the other three. "Name's Narashi. Already met Gai here, but I don't know you three yet." Of course, technically he did, but they didn't need to know that.

Kurenai smiled back at him. "Sorry. I'm Kurenai, and this is Asuma-," she said, pointing at Asuma, who nodded, "-and Genma." Genma raised his hand, grinning with the senbon clenched between his teeth.

"Glad to meet you," Narashi told them, before jolting slightly, remembering something. "Oh yeah, Rin," he said, turning to her with a smirk, "how's Ero-Sennin doing?"

"Jiraiya-sama?" she asked, grinning. "He's doing fine. Woke up earlier today, actually. Already vowing revenge on you two, so you might want to be careful."

"We can handle him, right, Kakashi?" Narashi said, smirking, receiving one in return.

The other four were rightfully confused, unaware of what happened a few days ago in their absence. Gai ended up voicing the question on their minds.

"Jiraiya-sama? What on earth happened to send him to the hospital?"

"He was being his usual perverted self. Ended up getting beaten up by most of the female population in the village," Kakashi answered, his smirk faintly visible thought his mask and in his voice.

"So what does that have to do with the two of you?" Kurenai asked.

"I put the voice-amplification jutsu on him, so the whole village heard him." Narashi snickered. "After which, we abandoned him to his doom."

"Jiraiya-sama was unconscious for a few days," Rin continued, her smile holding a mischievous edge, "but he's in Tsunade-sama's capable hands so he should be fine."

Everyone winced slightly at that revelation, knowing that Jiraiya would probably be staying in the hospital longer than originally planned for him.

Asuma shook his head. "Well, anyway, we were all going to get something to eat, so do you guys want to join us?"

"Sure," Kakashi said as Narashi nodded. "It can be Narashi's treat."

"Sweet, free food!" Genma cheered, grinning alongside everyone else as Narashi turned a fierce glare to Kakashi, bristling.

"When did I agree to that?!"

"Just before we started our spar," Kakashi answered impassively. "We agreed that the loser pays for lunch."

"And when was it decided that I lost, huh?" Narashi growled, locking the younger jounin into a headlock.

"Gnh...When I almost knocked your head off after you lost concentration for the _fifth_ time. That's when we stopped, so I should win by default."

"That doesn't count, you little brat, and you know it! If loser foots the bill, then I demand a rematch!"

"...Fine, if you want a rematch, then I'll giver you one. Now let me go!"

"Say I win, and I might consider it."

"No way!"

"Well, then I guess you're just going to have to stay headlocked until you do."

"No, I won't," Kakashi muttered before whistling sharply.

"...Uh oh." Recognizing the whistle command, and hearing the pounding of many pawed feet on the ground, Narashi looked over his shoulder just in time to see Bull bounding towards him, followed by the rest of the summon pack.

He barely had time to say "Oh sh-" before they all pounced on him, knocking him onto the ground.

"...Ow...stupid mutts. Get them off of me!"

Kakashi, who had managed to get free when Narashi loosened his grip before the canines pounced, knelt down in front of Narashi, elbows on his knees. "Say I win, and I might consider it," he said, throwing Narashi's words back at him, grinning.

"Not a chance, brat!" Narashi said, managing to squeeze his tail out from under Bull and smacking them all with it hard enough to make them disappear, charging at Kakashi before the smoke cleared.

As the two began their rematch, the others (except Rin) watched in shock, surprised at what they had just witnessed.

"Wow," Genma said, "I heard that Kakashi had been acting differently since Narashi woke up, but that was a bit of a surprise to actually see it."

"It is a bit shocking the first time," Rin responded, smiling. "But it's a good change for Kakashi-kun. At least, I think it is. I don't know what Narashi-san said or did to change him like this, but I'm grateful to him for it."

"What are you crying about now, Gai?" Asuma sighed, frowning at his teammate who was sobbing into his arm.

"I apologize, Asuma. But I'm just so happy that my rival is finally embracing his youthful spirit! After so many years, I had feared that he had lost sight of it, and that he would never regain it. But now Narashi-san has fanned the spark into a burning fire. And now that I have returned from my long mission, I can help bring that fire up to a glorious blaze that shall never die out!"

His friends sighed in exasperation, knowing from past experience that once Gai set his sights on a goal, he wouldn't stop until he was satisfied that he had completed it.

Rin continued watching Narashi and Kakashi spar, smiling softly as she thought about the changes that Narashi had whether purposefully or unknowingly brought about since his arrival. She didn't know what would've happened if they didn't find him when they did, but she was certain that his arrival was for the better. And she knew that if he were here, he'd be saying the same thing.

_Narashi-san. Thank you._

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Later that day...

"Thanks for the meal, Narashi-san!"

"Yeah, it was great!"

"A truly fulfilling meal after a month of hard work!"

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome," Narashi muttered as he handed over the bills to Ichiraku, staring sadly at his now empty wallet. _That cheating, little brat_, he thought, glaring at Kakashi as he sat on his stool, talking to Rin about something. _Stepping on my tail like that._

Not for the last time, Narashi ignored the irony of his thoughts.

OOOOOOOOOOO

A couple weeks later, Narashi found himself heading towards one of the farther fields, in preparation for something that was both important and necessary.

The second tail.

About a month had passed since he had arrived in the past and gained the first tail from Kyuubi. Having essentially gained control of his higher senses, and mastered using his new appendages, the time had come for the next one.

Admittedly, Narashi was a little nervous about this one, mostly because Kyuubi refused to say what will happen with this tail, no matter how many times Naruto pestered him for the answer. In fact, he'd made it quite clear that he intended for each 'gift' to be a complete surprise, a fact that irritated Narashi to no end.

In the end, all he could do was hope that what he ended up with wouldn't be detrimental to his personal mission.

'**None of my powers are "detrimental." Each one has its importance and uses. You both know this. Besides, you **_**did choose**_** to do this, so really, you have no reason to complain.'**

'_...We only chose it because we thought it'd be the best way to do what we needed to do, not cause we wanted to or anything. _You_ know _that.'

'**Hmph. Fine, keep thinking that. Doesn't matter to me. Anyway, here will do.'**

Narashi jumped from the trees to the ground, finding himself in a small clearing with a shallow stream flowing through the opposite side. Definitely a secluded area, with nothing particularly special about it to separate it from other areas of the forest.

"Right," he muttered, thinking aloud. "So what do I do now? Just get comfortable?"

'**The same as last time. You two need to face me face-to-face for it to work properly.'**

"_Right."_

A moment later, Naruto and Kakashi were standing in the ankle-deep water, staring up at Kyuubi's grinning face.

"Now, remember, while this won't hurt as much as last time, it will still cause quite a bit of pain, so keep that in mind," the Demon Fox reminded them.

"This isn't going to knock us unconscious again, is it?" Naruto asked, glaring up at the Fox Demon, a little irritated at not receiving any proper warning the first time.

"Unless you bash your head against a tree, then no, it won't."

Then, without another word, Kyuubi sent his chakra out from between the bars like a wave towards the other two. Kyuubi then took the moment to grin sardonically at them. "Oh, and, good luck. You'll need it." With that, the red youkai covered the two ninjas, sending them both back to reality.

Narashi grunted, going to his hands and knees, fingers digging into the dirt as he grit his teeth in pain. Dimly, he realized that Kyuubi had likely been lying when he said it wouldn't hurt as much. Because, as far as Narashi was concerned, both instances were so close that he couldn't tell which caused more pain. It was all he could do to avoid notifying anyone nearby to his presence by screaming out.

So he just clenched his jaw and bore it as he felt his body begin to change. His muscles and bones grew and shrunk in several areas, hands and feet curling, nails growing into thick claws. His spine both stretched and compacted on itself, splitting off at the base as a second tail grew beside the first. His organs changed shapes and positions as his ribs altered their orientation. Pins and needles spread across his body as hair grew rapidly over his skin. The worst of the pain, perhaps, came from his head as the jaw grew longer, narrowing his entire skull, teeth growing longer and sharper as his ears repositioned themselves to the top of his head.

Then, as quickly as it had started, the process ended, leaving Narashi laying on his stomach, panting heavily. Had he been able to think clearly through the ache in his body, he would have likely realized by now what had happened to him. As such, only as he slowly got to his four paws, shaking his head, did he figure it out.

Narashi's eyes snapped open wide as something in his mind went 'click!'

"_Oh no..."_

Instantly, his eyes caught sight of the long, golden snout extending from his face, ending in a small black, leather tip. Panicking slightly now, he frantically looked at the rest of his body, seeing only a golden-furred body, with silver paws, along with a second tail identical to the first.

Needing a final confirmation, mind unwilling to believe quite yet what his eyes told him was truth, Narashi ran over to the stream, stumbling slightly at first as he got used to being a quadruped instead of biped. Looking at his reflection in the water, he was met with, rather than the human features he had come to recognize, but by the slim canid features of a golden fox head, silver fur covering the muzzle, extending over the eyes, and down the throat and chest.

_This is not good, _Narashi thought, ears flipping back slightly in nervous fear.

'**Hmm...Well, this is interesting. I certainly didn't expect **_**that**_** to happen.'**

'Expect what? This transformation?' Kakashi asked, ignoring Naruto's furious growl of '_Kyuubi...'_

'**Ha! Don't tell me you two are actually **_**surprised **_**about this transformation. Remember, you are a **_**fox demon**_**. Sooner or later, this was going to occur. Technically, it should have on the first tail, but I managed to hold it off until now. Amusing as it might have been to allow natural events to take place, transforming on the first tail would have been more trouble than it was worth. But to answer your question, no, your **_**physical**_** transformation hadn't been what I was talking about. Come "inside"and you'll see what I meant.'**

_Why do I not like the way he put emphasis on 'physical'? _Narashi thought, somewhat nervously.

After taking another moment to examine his new body, Narashi settled himself beneath a nearby bush, before closing his eyes and entering Kyuubi's 'lair.'

It didn't take them long to realize what Kyuubi had meant.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Kyuubi burst out laughing as a young, blue-eyed, golden fox scrambled back very quickly, tripping over its own paws in the process, looking at itself frantically. A silver adult with a scar over its blood-red left eye stood to the side, stiff with shock.

Kakashi managed to soon shake it off, turning to the snickering nine-tails. "So I take it that _this_ is what you meant by 'unexpected'?"

Kyuubi nodded. "Yes, it is. The change to your physical appearance, I expected. But this change to your...'mental selves' I didn't. I had half-expected for some change at the first tail, but when none occurred, I assumed that there might not be any. Certainly not this much, this soon. Perhaps at the higher tails, but definitely not the second."

"So how do you explain this, then?" Naruto growled out, unappreciating the humor Kyuubi got from his reaction.

The Fox Demon shrugged. "Can't really say. Perhaps the reason is that, with two tails, the power is evenly split between you two, resulting in each you gaining a tail. And as I just told you, the physical transformation should've occurred at the first tail. I held that effect back for your physical body then, but nothing stopped it for the both of you this time."

"I guess that makes sense..." Naruto said angrily, looking away from the demon. He quickly turned back to him, baring his teeth. "Now tell us how to change back!"

"Figure it out for yourself," Kyuubi replied, turning away from them and curling up as if about to sleep (even though they all knew he didn't need to).

"WHAT?!"

"And why do you say that?" Kakashi asked, sitting down. "Unless you're just saying that to be petty."

"I'm not petty," Kyuubi responded instantly. "Transforming into a human form is a test amongst us demons. If you have to have you hand - or paw - held through the entire process, you aren't fit to gain any of the higher tails. The same applies here. Besides," he added, flicking his tails, "even if I did tell you, you wouldn't be able to apply it for several weeks, anyway. Rarely does a two-tailed gain the ability to transform. Usually it's three that's required. And while you are certainly an exception, you would still need to remain in this fox form for a while. For how long," he shrugged, "can't really say. That's up to the two of you."

"Okay, fine, I get it, we aren't getting back to normal for a while," Naruto grumbled. "But can't you at least show us how it's done so we at least know what we're supposed to do?"

"Like I already told you, not going to happen."

"Hmph," Naruto scoffed, before grumbling under his breath. "I bet you can't even do it. That's the real reason you don't want to at least show us."

"What was that?!" Kyuubi snarled, lifting his head from his paws and glaring down at Naruto over his back.

Kakashi, catching onto where Naruto was headed with this, smirked before adding his two cents. "He has a point. We've only ever seen you in your current form. And that cell must feel cramped sometimes, so it makes one wonder why you never seem to transform into a smaller form. Perhaps the reason is that you've forgotten how, it's been so long."

Kyuubi's growls were rapidly increasing in volume as he scrambled to his feet, glaring down at the humans turned fox, furious at the insinuation they were making. Undaunted by the supposed threat, Naruto continued.

"Yeah, some all powerful 'demon lord.' Can't even do something as apparently simple as transform into a human."

The Fox Demon roared, releasing a wave of chakra, forcing Naruto and Kakashi to duck their heads down, eyes closed as they braced themselves against the force. When they looked up, they didn't see the fox they had grown accustomed to.

Inside a suddenly normal sized cell stood a tall man with spiky red hair pulled back into a long ponytail. Over a black muscle-shirt, he wore a dark red, sleeveless trench coat with ragged edges. He also wore heavy army boots similar to what Morino Ibiki wore. Large fox ears poked our from behind his bangs, and on each cheek were three deeply-etched whisker marks. And behind him were nine red tails swishing back and forth behind him.

"Hmph. There, I transformed. Happy now?" Kyuubi said, crossing his arms.

"No," Naruto replied, annoyance clear in his voice and expression. "You made us look away, so we didn't get to see you do it. That's cheap!"

"Tch. Too bad," Kyuubi scoffed. "I meant it when I said you're on your own on this one. I only did this," he added, gesturing to his new appearance, "because it became a matter of pride when you two started insisting that I couldn't.

"Now, since you two have gotten your answers, and figured out what happened, it's high time you think of what you're going to do next, so LEAVE!"

Narashi's eyes snapped open, his head shooting up with a startled yelp at the sudden exit.

'_Stupid fox...I hate it when he does that,'_ Naruto grumbled.

He sighed, examining his new body silently for a moment.

'_So, Kakashi-sensei...what do we do now?'_

_

* * *

_A/N:...August...October...December...my God, has it really been that long since the last update? It honestly didn't seem that long. Geez, talk about time flying by.

So, yeah, all I can really say is; I'm really, really, really, really, REALLY SORRY!!! . I wish I had a good reason, but it really just boils down to a lot of procrastination, a bit of writer's block (3 utterly failed attempts at starting this chapter way back in July/August will do that), and school (mostly with this last month). It didn't help that I lost some interest in Naruto as a whole for a while. Luckily, recent manga chapters have brought it back up (speaking of which, HOLY COW! 0_0).

Well, at least it was a long chapter.

Anyway, thank you all for sticking with me for so long, and I'll try to have the next one out much sooner. The next 2-3 chapters are going to be epic, so look forward to that.


	15. Encounter

Disclaimer: Do I really need to do this?

A/N: Woot! 15 is here, and it didn't take me 7 months to do it! :D Not much epicness in this one like I said there would be last chapter, but that all starts next chapter. :D Big plans. Big, big plans. It's going to be so fun.

Thanks so much everyone for your great reviews! They make me oh so happy to see in my inbox. Special thanks to BYoshi1993, who was the 400th reviewer! WOOT! ^_^

Well, on with the chapter!

Key:

_thoughts_

_'Naruto speaking'_

'Kakashi speaking'

**'Kyuubi speaking'**

**_'2 or all speaking'_  
**

* * *

Chapter 15: Encounter

"You'll be meeting your clients at the west gate tomorrow morning, so make sure you're ready before then." The Hokage paused before adding, frowning slightly. "And please, don't be late. I'll likely be getting enough complaints about your age, I don't need to hear any about your timing."

Kakashi sent him an affronted glare. "What makes you think I'd be late, especially for a mission?"

Minato shook his head. "Nothing really, just some rumors I've been hearing, that's all. Saying that you've stared arriving late to meetings and such. Sounds rather familiar, actually," he added, looking at the young jounin, eyes unreadable.

"Hmph," Kakashi scoffed, turning his head to the side. It was true that he had started being late for some things, but he didn't intend for it to happen. He just…lost track of time whenever he visited the memorial. Which he still did every morning. He didn't get as depressed as he did before, but he still felt like he needed to go.

Seeing that he wouldn't receive an answer, Minato sighed, saying "Do what you will, Kakashi, just try not to go overboard with it, alright?

"Anyway," Minato continued, bringing the subject back to the original topic, for which Kakashi was grateful for, "be sure to let Narashi know about the mission. He'll be joining you for this one." He frowned. "He was supposed to be here, but I guess the messenger I sent couldn't find him. So you'll need to brief him yourself."

Kakashi nodded. "So, it'll just be the two of us? Don't escort missions usually have at least three or four?"

"Normally they do, yes," Minato answered, nodding. "But I don't have anyone else that I can easily spare to go with you. The team I was originally going to send got into a training accident yesterday afternoon. Of course, it had to be the entire team…" he added under his breath. He shook his head. "Everyone else is either already on missions, scheduled for them, or just wouldn't be able to go. And you know how nobles are. They just don't want to wait, and always want the best. So it'll just be you and Narashi for this one. With how many bunshin he can make, it shouldn't be much of a problem. Use that to your advantage."

"Yes sir. Is that all?"

"Yes, you're dismissed. Unless there's anything you wanted to add?"

"No," Kakashi said, shaking his head as he turned to leave. "I should go find Narashi now. If the messenger couldn't find him, I should get started now."

"Alright. Good luck. And remember, eight o'clock sharp!"

"I know, I know. See you later, Hokage-sama."

With that, Kakashi left, leaving the grumbling Yondaime.

"How many times do I have to tell them not to call me that?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Dammit, where is he?" Kakashi grumbled, jumping through Konoha's trees, trying to find a certain fox demon. He already had his summons out searching, though they hadn't found anything either. He kept Pakkun with him, to help augment his own tracking abilities. Good as his own sense of smell was, the dogs were a hundred times better.

The pug suddenly stopped on a branch just ahead of him. "Kakashi, I've got something here."

_Finally_, he thought stopping next to Pakkun. "How recent?"

"Very recent." He took another sniff at the branch. "No more than a couple hours, tops."

"Good. Signal the others, and we'll continue following this."

As Pakkun howled his finding to the others, Kakashi looked around, finding a few small signs of Narashi's passing. Not many but enough to tell him that while Narashi had put some effort into hiding his trail, he hadn't done enough to completely hide his presence, at least not to an expert tracker.

Kakashi heard the intruder's footsteps behind him seconds before Pakkun started growling in warning. Pulling a kunai from his leg holster, he spun around, brandishing the blade towards the golden being behind him.

"YIPE!"

With a canid yelp, it had jumped back to avoid his attack, only to slip off the branch, falling to the ground. Kakashi hadn't been able to get a clear view of what had snuck up on him, but it looked almost like a fox.

_Wait a minute…._

"Oh, don't tell me that was…" he muttered before jumping down to the ground, Pakkun following behind.

He landed just as the golden-furred fox was getting to its feet, shaking its head.

"Geez, Kakashi," it said, glaring at him with its bi-colored eyes. "What did you have to do that for? I wasn't even going to attack you or anything!"

"…Narashi?!" Kakashi stared in shock at the gold and silver fox, only a little larger than a normal red fox.

Narashi seemed to remember the situation he was in now, ducking his head down sheepishly. "Uh…yeah, it's me. Yo," he said, wagging his two tails at Kakashi. "Experiencing a bit of an unexpected side effect of this new addition of mine."

Groaning, Kakashi buried his head in his hands. "You couldn't have waited another couple of weeks for this?"

"Um, no," Narashi answered, looking nervous, "why?"

Kakashi didn't answer, merely pulled the mission scroll out of his back pouch, unrolling it in front of Narashi's now canid face so he could read it.

"A mission?!" Narashi stared at the scroll in horror before dropping his head, groaning. "Of all the times…I can't go on a mission like this!"

"Shouldn't you be able to transform into a human form?" Pakkun asked, stepping forward. "I was always under the impression that demons could do that. In fact, I thought that was what you were doing all along."

"No, I kept my human form when I got the first tail. This is the first time this has happened. I will be able to transform back, but I can't right now. I have to spend some time in this form before I can." He sighed. "I guess this is why you were trying to find me? Because of the mission? I could hear the pack's howls."

"Yep," Pakkun replied. "And now that you're found, I'll be leaving. Unless there's anything else, Kakashi?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No, you can leave. Thanks for your help, Pakkun."

"No, problem. Later!" He raised a paw in farewell before leaving with a 'poof'.

Kakashi sighed, running a hand through his messy, silver hair. "So, what are you going to do now? Sensei made it clear that he couldn't send anyone else, since they're all either unqualified, or busy, but I can't do it by myself. And it starts tomorrow morning so there isn't much time."

"Hm…" Narashi bowed his head, thinking.

'Hey, Kyuubi, is it still possible to use ninjutsus in this form?'

'**Technically, yes, it is possible. You'll need to practice a different method with most of your techniques, but the basic techniques should work fine. Just use your tails in place of hands. I'd advise against using a henge on yourself, though, since it could fail at the worst possible time. Not to mention, it'd be awkward to maintain.'**

'Not quite what I was thinking.'

"I have an idea."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"_You_ are the shinobi I hired for escort?" Higurashi Saito, a rather plump nobleman, sneered, looking over Kakashi and Narashi with an upturned nose. They were all standing just outside of the gate, a line of oxen pulled wagons ready to leave in a few minutes. "A half-blind child, a newbie to his rank and his…pet? What could the Fourth be thinking…"

Narashi's humanoid shadow clone frowned slightly, barely managing to keep a fierce glare off his face. "I assure you, Higurashi-san, that our Hokage chose us for a reason. My companion and I may not look like much, but we _are_ jounin. You and your family are in good hands."

"Hmph. We had better be, or I will personally make sure that Konoha regrets it," Higurashi scoffed before walking off to his carriage, which he intended to stay in for the majority of the trip.

The trio left behind sighed in annoyance. Narashi, both the clone and the original, who sat at his clone's feet, muttered "I really hate nobles sometimes…" angrily.

Kakashi shook his head, hoping he wouldn't have to deal with the man often. "We'd better get to our positions," he said, turning to Narashi. "We'll have two on both ends of the line, then two in the center on either side. I'll start up front and rotate through the positions periodically, checking on your status."

"And me?" Fox-Narashi asked, looking up at them as the clone nodded to Kakashi's orders, going about to create the necessary number of clones. "We hadn't decided what role I would take on this mission yet."

"You'll-"

Before Kakashi could finish, the ecstatic cry of a young girl filled the air, one that Narashi would soon come to dread.

"OOH! A PUPPY!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"This is…" Minato muttered in shocked horror as he examined the gruesome report that had just come in. He hadn't heard from one of his patrol teams in a while, and so had sent out another to find out why.

Well, now he knew.

The entire team, to the last man, had been completely destroyed – literally. Pieces of flesh and torn limbs were scattered across the battlefield. Apparently, it had been difficult to even determine who was a part of the team, so thoroughly had their bodies been torn apart.

But the scene of the patrol's battle hadn't been all the ANBU team had found. The path of destruction had continued to a nearby village, where every inhabitant had been given the exact same treatment. An entire village, decimated.

But, despite the fierce battle that had apparently taken place, there was absolutely no sign of who or what had attacked them. No blood, no pieces of clothing, nothing. Thrown weapons seemed to have missed their target by a wide margin, and katanas lay shattered in their owner's blood.

There were several criminals in the world who enjoyed tearing their victims apart and scattering the pieces. But none that the blame could be placed on, as none would be able to do so without leaving so trace of their identity, especially since those who did so usually _wanted_ people to know it was them, or tried to point it to another. But in this case, there was nothing to indicate a perpetrator, even a fake one. And that was cause for great concern, as it mean that there was someone or _something_ extremely dangerous and powerful loose, with them having no idea of where it would strike next.

Minato sighed, rubbing his forehead as the knowledge of all those deaths and the mystery of their murderer forming a weight on his shoulders. He reached over to the tea cup placed near the edge of his desk, hoping that the drink could relieve some of the tension building. His fingertips had barely brushed against the rim, though, when a large crack suddenly rent itself into the side of the cup, some of the liquid inside leaking out.

Minato stared at it for a moment in silence, stunned somewhat by the event.

Now, he had never been an overly suspicious person. But staring at the crack, after reading that report, he couldn't stop the foreboding feeling from forming in the back of his mind. Something was going to happen, something bad.

He spun around in his chair, looking out the large windows that looked out over the village. His gaze went out to the dense forests beyond Konoha's gates, quietly whispering "Be careful," directing it towards all of Konoha's shinobi out on missions, knowing that any one of them could run into trouble.

His heart, though, sent the plea to a few specific ninja who had recently departed on their own.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

"How's everything going here?" Kakashi asked the clone stationed in the center right of the traveling wagon train.

"It's going ok," he answered, looking down at the younger jounin. "There hasn't been any trouble, aside from a stubborn ox that decided it wanted a break. That got settled pretty quick, though, so all is going smooth."

Kakashi nodded. "Good."

Continuing to walk beside him, Kakashi examined the traveling line and surrounding areas. They had been on the road for almost a week now, and were making good time. If they continued at the pace they were going at, they'd reach the capital in the next few days.

So far they hadn't had any run-ins with bandits, but he was confident that they could handle any that showed up, despite their main defense being shadow clones. Narashi had put enough chakra into them to make them last quite a while, even if they got hit several times. They certainly wouldn't last against a powerful technique, but they could take a few hard punches. Not that they intended to test their limit. Narashi had figured that this would be a good time to improve his evasion and so had ordered his clones to avoid any attacks possible while still protecting their clients. That hadn't been necessary yet, though, so hopefully the mission would continue going well.

"HELP ME!!"

Kakashi and clone-Narashi turned around at the frantic call, just as a golden blur sped over and climbed up Kakashi's leg, slipping down his shirt.

"WHOA! Na-Kitsu, what the hell?" Kakashi asked, looking down his shirt collar at the shaking kitsune, almost forgetting to call him by the name they had decided to call him in fox form for now, so as to prevent the other travelers from getting any more suspicious about the two-tailed fox. They had accepted the lie that he was Narashi's companion, as the ninja dogs were to the Inuzukas, if a bit hesitantly. They were simple civilians, with very little knowledge about ninjas. If one had a talking fox as a pet, it was just one more oddity to add to the list of the strange ways of shinobi.

"I'll explain later, just _please_ hide me from that little demon!"

_Look who's talking,_ Kakashi thought as he started to reach down to grab the fox.

"Kitsu-kun! Where d'you go?! We still have to get you ready for the tea party!"

A young girl of about six, their client's daughter, ran up to the snickering shinobi, wearing a pink kimono with a white flower design, dark hair pulled into two little buns.

"Shinobi-san, have you seen Kitsu-kun? He ran off again," she asked, looking up at them with wide eyes.

"Yeah, he's currently hiding under Kakashi's shirt," Narashi answered, still chuckling, pointing at Kakashi who had resorted to pulling his arm in out of his sleeve to grab the struggling fox before pulling him out by the scruff of his neck. 'Kitsu' struggled the entire time, refusing to be returned to the 'little demon', much to Kakashi's annoyance.

"Come on, 'Kitsu-kun,' it's your job to guard Emiko-chan here," Narashi snickered, getting enjoyment from teasing the original. "You just have to suck it up, and deal with it."

Kakashi finally managed to pull the protesting kitsune out of his shirt, smirking at the sight of the large pink bow tied around his neck, as well as the butterfly clips on his tails. Narashi had completely bypassed smirk and started laughing loudly as Kakashi handed Kitsu to an ecstatic Emiko.

"Thank you, Shinobi-san!" Emiko grinned up at them before turning around and heading back to one of the wagons that she had been playing in. "Come on, Kitsu-kun. There's still _lots_ to do before you're ready to join Miko-chan and me for our party. It's going to be lots of fun…"

As Emiko's voice faded away, it left the jounin leader and clone laughing at the misfortune of their comrade, ignoring the snarling glare that promised _death_ to them.

Yep, the mission was definitely progressing perfectly.

…So why couldn't he shake the feeling that something was about to go dreadfully wrong?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"It wasn't funny!"

"Yes, it was," Kakashi said, smirking down at the growling fox beside him.

They had completed their mission a couple days ago without a hitch, which had taken them a week and a half to finish. There had been a brief ambush of a small band of thieves about a day away from the capital, but they were taken care of so quickly that Higurashi and many others hadn't even realized there had been any trouble.

The two were now on their way home, though Emiko had been extremely upset about having to say good-bye to 'Kitsu-kun'. She had even gone so far as to ask if she could keep him.

Which brought about their current discussion.

"Your _clone_ was seconds from falling to the ground he was laughing so hard."

"That doesn't make what happened funny," Narashi snarled, baring his teeth. "I'm not some pet to be dressed up like a doll!"

Of course, Kakashi and the clones hadn't been the only ones who found the situation amusing.

'**The bow matched your fur so well, and the ear clips just perfected your appearance. The glitter was such a nice touch, too.'**

'_Shut up!'_

'**Never. This is material I'll be using for w-MOVE!'**

Narashi leapt from the branch alongside Kakashi, both sensing the incoming attack the same moment Kyuubi had. Not a moment to soon, as a large ball of concentrated chakra blasted into the branch they had previously been on, the resulting explosion sending shredded bits of wood flying everywhere. The shockwave had knocked the still airborne shinobi back, both barely managing to right themselves and land on another branch before they ended up crashing into it, already alert for their attacker.

They didn't have to look for long.

"Well, well, a two-tailed kitsune and a member of the cursed clan, Hatake. Been a long time since I've encountered one of them."

Both ninjas shot their heads up to stare at the shadowed speaker, crouched on a branch above the destroyed one. Neither could make out any features of the man to be able to recognize him, but apparently, someone else did.

'**Impossible…'**

'You know him?'

Kyuubi snarled fiercely as the newcomer stood from his crouch, grinning down at them with a fanged smile, red eyes glinting.

'**Kariudo Asura,'** he growled, **'the Demon Hunter.'**

**

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it's so short or seemed rushed. I honestly didn't have any ideas for what I could do for that mission other than what I already have. So I decided to just stick to what I have and update now, rather than take a couple more months to think of stuff that I probably wouldn't even like. Besides, my mind is stuck on what's going to happen next, anyway. :D

Oh, by the way, for those who haven't already seen it, there's a link in my profile to an image of Narashi in his fox form, as well as one with the bow. Just letting you know for anyone who wants to see it.


	16. Demon Hunter

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs only to Masashi Kishimoto, not poor college students.

A/N: FINALLY done! Did not enjoy writing this, since it was one of those times where what is in the head will not come out on paper right.

Well anyway, enjoy!

Key

_thoughts_

_'Naruto speaking'_

'Kakashi speaking'

**'Kyuubi speaking'**

**_'2 or more speaking'_  
**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Demon Hunter**

'**Kariudo Asura,' **Kyuubi growled. **'The Demon Hunter.'**

'_Demon Hunter?!'_

'**Why do you think that the only demons you've heard about are the Nine Demon Lords? It's because **_**he's**_** hunted down all the lesser demons and taken their power for himself, turning him into something that is not quite a demon, but no longer human, either.'**

'_Like a half-demon?'_

Kariudo certainly looked enough like one. Almost as tall as Jiraiya, he stared down at Narashi and Kakashi from his perch with red eyes brimming with power, the cat-like pupils almost nonexistent. His wide smirk, akin to that of a cat that had found a mouse to play with, revealed sharp fangs, long enough to jut past his lip. A short, scraggly beard framed a broad face, covered in scars. The most prominent of these were two that went across the nose from cheek to cheek, and another that started from the left temple to the right side of the chin. Short, dark-brown hair spiked up at the front, a gust of wind revealing rather long hair in the back, pulled into a thin ponytail by a roll of bandages.

The Hunter's clothing looked similar to what ANBU wore, minus the armor; a skin-tight, black sleeveless shirt, dark pants, and high boots. He didn't wear any gloves, likely because his claws would've easily torn through the fabric. The cloth was ripped in several places, as if he had recently gotten out of a fight.

Kariudo's chakra, though, was extremely unnerving. Narashi couldn't say exactly why, but he couldn't stop a snarl from coming to his face, a growl rumbling in his throat, his fur standing on end at just being in his presence. Perhaps it had something to do with what Kyuubi had said about him absorbing the chakra of other demons, the knowledge sending his instincts on edge.

'**No, not a half-demon. His blood remains human, for the most part, but his chakra is what has been altered, which is what affects his appearance.'**

'You said that he was the one who exterminated most of the demons. But didn't that happen over-?'

'**Two-hundred years ago, yes.'**

'_Two-hundred years?!'_

'**Absorbing all those demons could've given him a long life, but I had been certain that I'd finally killed him years ago. That's why I was so shocked to see him. I'll give you the details later if you want them, but now isn't the time. Whatever brought him back, we can worry about it later. Avoiding a fight now is impossible. He's too fast to outrun, and with the healing ability he's gained, it'll take a powerful attack to knock him down and keep him that way long enough to escape. Just whatever you do, don't let him grab you when his chakra turns black.'**

'_Why?'_

Kakashi answered Naruto's question in place of Kyuubi, having already guessed the answer. 'That's how he absorbs a demon's chakra, right?'

'**Correct. At your current power level, you don't stand a chance if he grabs you.'**

'We'll keep that in mind.'

As Narashi listened to Kyuubi's explanation, Kakashi glared up at their attacker, trying to glean any information about him from his appearance. He couldn't match his description to any bingo book he'd ever seen, and the lack of any visible hitai-ate didn't tell him much.

_Could he be a demon? _he thought, noticing some of the same features he's seen on Narashi. _He looks enough like one. And his chakra…_

Kakashi glanced down at Narashi, who stood tense on his left, growling at the man, who chuckled at the sight.

"Do you know him?" Kakashi asked, turning his eyes back to the man.

Narashi glanced up at him. "Of him, yeah. His name's Kariudo Asura, and he's a demon hunter. He defeats them, and then steals their chakra. That's why he looks like one. I don't know if it'll affect you, but don't let him touch you when his chakra is black."

"Right."

"Well, it looks like my reputation amongst demons is still going strong, though I'm surprised there are any left," Kariudo said in a rough, gravelly voice. "I had thought that in my years of absence, though, that it would've been lost. Certainly seemed so when I visited that small village in the north."

Kariudo covered his face with a hand, shaking his head as if in disbelief. "I know that the memories of human mortals is short, but for not one person to recognize me despite all the work I did to create a legendary reputation…not even those masked ninjas with the leaf symbol knew anything. And here I've heard that information was their specialty." He removed his hand, revealing a gleeful grin that sent shivers down both their spines. "I guess I'll just have to start building a new one all over again. Those villagers and ninja gave me a wonderful appetizer after my long sleep. But appetizer is all they were.

"You two, who hold the power of demons within you, can be my meal," he finished, suddenly standing directly behind them.

Narashi and Kakashi both gasped, turning around to see Kariudo's grinning face, a mad, hungry glint in his eyes.

_That speed!_

"But let's have a little game I like to play first, shall we?" he said, raising his hands, one pointing at each of them. "I'll be the cat, while you two play as the desperate mice."

As he spoke the last word, he released a burst of chakra from both his hands which blasted into the other two like a gale, sending them to the ground below, crashing into several branches along the way.

"GAH!"

"UGH!"

Kakashi lay on the ground, completely stunned by the impact. After a moment, he picked himself off the ground, pulling his hitai-ate up as well, knowing that he needed every advantage against this opponent.

He'd barely started looking around, already starting to feel the strain of revealing the sharingan when Kariudo's scarred face stood directly in front of him once again. At the sight of the implanted Kekkei Genkai, his eyes widened for a brief moment before an amused smirk made its way across his face.

"So the Hatake has one of the Uchiha eyes," he chuckled. "This could make things much more interesting."

Kakashi barely registered the man's words, too shocked by what he could see through his left eye.

When he had first seen Narashi's chakra through the sharingan, he had been surprised and a little frightened by what he saw. That kind of combination of three different chakra types, one of which was purely demonic had been hard to believe possible, and he hadn't know how to react. Even now, despite how many times they'd trained since, Kakashi still felt a little uneasy whenever he saw Narashi's unnatural chakra sometimes.

The chaos that was Kariudo Asura's chakra blew any remaining hesitations about Narashi clear out of his mind.

Every color available swirled within his body, creating a nauseating kaleidoscope of color. Red, yellow, blue; orange, green, purple; white, brown, black. All of them blending and shifting to create an even wider array of color, not one spot remaining the same color for more than an instant.

The source of it all appeared to be a window to the deepest pits of hell, so deep was the darkness. Like a black hole, it seemed more to absorb the chakra around it in a swirling vortex rather than spread it out.

Extending out from the body were hundreds of chakra tendrils, each one a different size and color, waving about rather lazily. There were so many, in fact, that it was actually rather difficult to tell where the body ended and chakra began. Thinking about what Narashi had told him about Kariudo made Kakashi quickly realize something. _If he absorbs the chakra of demons, then those must be…_

Any further thoughts slammed to a halt when Kariudo's chakra suddenly flared, shooting waves of pain through the sharingan, forcing him to close it with a pained grunt, his hand coming up to clutch at it.

"A pity that such an eye is useless against me."

Before he could respond to that, the man's palm slammed into Kakashi's chest, sending him back several feet to slam into a tree. The impact forced the air from his lung, blood splattering against his cloth mask as the remaining breath was released.

Falling to his knees, coughing and gasping for air, Kakashi failed to notice Kariudo sending him a questioning glance, looking almost confused about something.

"Strange," he said, walking towards Kakashi. "Normally I can sense the strength of one's chakra by that attack. And yet, with you, I could not, like I had been blocked by something." He stopped in front of the jounin, reaching out a clawed hand to grab him. "Now, tell me, why is that?"

"You won't get the chance to find out!"

The foliage around them exploded into action as several of Narashi's humanoid clones descended on Kariudo, forcing him to leap back. They continued attacking en masse with taijutsu, their main objective being to just keep him busy. A smirk once more spread wide on his face, he easily dodged the attacks, slipping around each attempt.

While they kept him away, the real Narashi and another clone landed next to Kakashi, who was starting to breathe easier again.

"Are you okay?" Narashi asked, quickly smelling the blood on Kakashi breath.

"I'll be fine," Kakashi answered, bringing a hand up to his hitai-ate, pushing it back down over his eye. After what had just happened, it would just be a waste to keep it uncovered. "Just caught me by surprise is all. Didn't expect to see what I did."

"Fill me in on the details later, right now I need to get you out of here," Narashi's clone said, lifting one of Kakashi's arms over his shoulder, standing up.

"I told you, I'm fine," he protested, pulling his arm from the clone's grip, only to stumble on his feet from a sudden bout of dizziness. Only the clone's returned grip on his arm kept him from falling back to the ground.

Narashi looked up at them from glancing at the fight taking place nearby, worried that half his clones had already been defeated. "You're not fine," he said to the pale jounin. "Whatever he did is still affecting you. Take the time to catch your breath and formulate some kind of plan. I'll keep him busy until then."

Narashi turned back to face Kariudo, after making sure the two had left, just in time to see the last of his clones get destroyed by the still smirking Demon Hunter.

"I hope that's not the best you can do, little fox. I'm starting to get rather bored with this. Come on, now." He spread his arms, making himself a clear target. "If you truly have something more than what I've seen, hit me with it right now. Give a reason to think that you are not just a waste of my time to play with."

Narashi growled, tensing. _Time to test the real limits of this body._

"Try saying that after getting a taste of this!" he yelled, leaping high into the air.

"**TSUMEKAZE!"**

Surrounding himself in blades of wind, Narashi curled in on himself, flying towards the _still grinning _face of Kariudo Asura like a spinning buzz saw. Teeth and claws bared, he slammed into the Hunter's left shoulder, tearing through skin, muscle, and bone like tissue paper. Something felt off as he did so, but with his concentration on the attack, he pushed the brief worry to the back of his mind.

Skidding to a halt behind Kariudo, excess chakra digging a deep furrow into the ground, he turned around, expecting to see a lot of damage done by the attack, even though he know that it would likely heal soon. His experience with such abilities, though, told him that the greater the damage, the longer it took to heal.

Which is why his jaw dropped as the dirt tossed up by his landing cleared. Despite the fact that he had felt his attack hit, there was no sign of it on his opponent except for a shredded shirt. No wound, no scar, not even any blood!

_That's what it was!_ he thought with a jolt. _That's why I thought something was wrong when I attacked him. There was no blood!_

"Was that supposed to hurt?" Kariudo asked, looking over his shoulder at them. "That barely tickled."

Narashi bared his teeth with a growl, forcing himself from his shock, before sending out another barrage of clones to give himself time to think.

'_Dammit! How could he heal so quickly? Even if he gained super-fast healing from all those demons, shouldn't it take longer to heal that kind of damage?'_

'I'm wondering more about he lack of blood. Even if the blood had already clotted even as we were attacking, to the point where there wouldn't be any sign of it , we still should've been able to feel it.'

'**That may have something to do with how he's alive now.'**

'_H-he's not a-?'_

'**No, he is not an undead,' **Kyuubi answered before Naruto could finish, obviously rolling his eyes. **'You would've known by now if he was.'**

They heard the fox demon sigh loudly, muttering to himself, **'I hate it when plans never stay on track.**

'**Just keep bombarding him with your strongest attacks. Everything has its limit, and sooner or later, that little pest will slow down long enough for me to give you a power boost. A little earlier than I would like, but the situation calls for it. Maybe then you might be able to hit him hard enough for you to escape.'**

'He's hardly a 'little pest', Kyuubi. And this isn't exactly the best time for us to collapse after receiving one of your 'power boosts'. The first two weren't exactly enjoyable, after all.'

'**I'll deal with that, just don't expect it be pleasant later on. Now get moving!'**

Narashi quickly obeyed the fox's order by jumping away from a chakra blast sent by Kariudo, similar to the attack he had used when they encountered him.

"You really just a one-trick-pony, aren't you, Fox?" he asked as he clapped his hands together, frowning like a child who no longer liked his new toy. "With such interesting chakra, I thought you'd be fun to play with for a little while. But all you've done is stand there sending more of your weak clone army while doing _nothing_. Not even hiding to make me find you."

A dark circle spread across the ground around him, trapping everything in is circumference, freezing them in place.

"**ANKOKU RAIUN!"**

Hundreds of black lightning bolts shot up from the circle, striking and piercing everything within it. With yells of pain and shock, all of Narashi's clones burst with their signature cloud of smoke.

Kariudo stared at the spot where Narashi had previously stood as he lowered his hands, the chakra circle receding, only seeing a dissipating smoke cloud.

"Whoever said I wasn't doing anything?!"

Four fox clones, each covered in blue chakra, burst out of the bushes, surrounding the Hunter.

"I've just been spending the time preparing a new attack specially for you!" they all said as one, starting to run in circles around him, faster with every pass until they were just gold and silver blurs.

"**OUSATSU ARASHI NO JUTSU!"**

The chakra that surrounded them quickly spread out, forming a tornado around Kariudo, who stood in the center as the sharp blades of wind buffeted him, whipping his long hair around. The tornado stretched up above the canopy, shredding any branches in its way, adding them to the growing debris. Clouds congregated near the top, drawn in by its rotation. Soon, there was a thick blanket of swirling, storm grey clouds covering the area.

With a thunderous roar, a giant bolt of lightning shot down the center of the tornado from the clouds, striking its target in full force.

Narashi landed a short distance away, breathing heavily, shaking from the chakra loss over that technique. Unable to support his weight for very long, his legs collapsed underneath him, covered in chakra burns. Having been at the head of that lightning bolt as it struck down, this came as no surprise to him.

"If that…didn't slow him…down some…then I don't know…what will…" Narashi panted to himself, staring at he spot where Kariudo should be, waiting for the dust to clear.

'We really should practice combining our elements a bit more before trying something like that again. It's amazing something hasn't happened to us yet, actually, due to the opposition of our chakra elements. Honestly surprised that worked as well as it did. I thought the wind would cancel the lightning bolt out.'

'**Don't celebrate just yet. You don't know if it actually did anything or not. For now, best find somewhere to hide before he comes after you again.'**

Honestly, Narashi didn't think he could even stand right now, let alone hide. He didn't understand how he could be so tired. He knew he hadn't spent enough chakra to exhaust himself this much, so why?

The sound of something brought his attention back to his opponent, eyes wide at what he was hearing.

_Laughter? Why is he-?_

The smoke had mostly cleared by now, revealing Kariudo standing in the middle of a cleared area, the charred ground showing clear signs of having been struck by lightning. He stood there, bent over slightly, his shirt reduced to threads the only sign of the attack on him once again, hand on his face, laughing like a man crazed with power.

Exactly what he was, Narashi realized, as he started speaking between his laughter.

"What _power_!" he muttered. "To think that a mere two-tails could put so much power into an attack! Hahaha…I can just imagine how much it has stored within itself, just waiting to be released. I must have it. I must have it ALL!"

At the final word, Kariudo turned his head towards Narashi with a hungry, earsplitting grin and eyes widened to the point that they were in danger of falling out, pupils contracted to almost nothing.

"Shit," Narashi swore, as the Hunter started running towards him, though not as fast as before, as if his power craze interfered with his normal abilities. He tried to get up to run away, knowing what Kariudo planned to do, but barely managed two steps back before stumbling again.

'_Now would be a really good time for that third tail, Kyuubi!' _

'**I know, but don't let him-!'**

Kyuubi didn't get the chance to finish as Kariudo skid to a halt in front of him, stooping down to grab him. Narashi tried to leap away, but not fast enough before he was lifted off the ground by one of his tails, a yelp escaping him at the sudden painful pressure on it.

'_**NO!'**_

"Give it to me!" Kariudo demanded, "You're power belongs to me!"

"Let go of-!" Narashi started, reaching back to bite the hand holding him when he caught sight of the thick black chakra surrounding his arm.

That was the last thing he saw before all he knew was pain.

* * *

A/N: What? Surely you didn't expect me to NOT end on a cliffhanger (if a rather cliche line XP).

Not quite where I wanted to end it originally, but still a good place to stop in order to get this out after too long. Still would've been a cliff either way. ;)

Kariudo is rather difficult to write, actually. He's either bordering on chakra-high insanity or something else I'm too tired to think of right now. :\

**Jutsus**

**Tsumekaze: **Whirlwind Claw (literally claw-wind, or wind-claw).

**Ankoku Raiun:** Dark Thunderstorm

**Ousatsu Arashi no Jutsu:** Striking Storm Technique

Hope you enjoyed it. Thank you all so, SO much for your patience and all your lovely, lovely reviews. :) They make me oh so happy, and kept me on this storyline for the past 2 years and more.


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